🚒 How to Handle or Erase Errors in Watercolor

Newsletter Issue: 75

Sep 12, 2025

Picture this: you are happily painting a sky.

The blue is flowing just right when suddenly—plop!—a big drop of red falls from your brush.

Or maybe you tried to paint a flower petal and the color spread far beyond the outline. For a moment you freeze and think, “I ruined it.”

But here’s the truth: in watercolor, “ruined” is a strong word. What looks like a mistake can often be rescued, softened, or even turned into something magical.

Every artist, from the absolute beginner to the lifelong master, has had moments like these.

The difference is not that they never make mistakes, but that they know how to live with them, fix them, or transform them.

Watercolor and Its Nature

Watercolor is unlike any other medium. Oils let you paint over mistakes, gouache lets you cover them, and digital art has an undo button.

Watercolor, on the other hand, is transparent and delicate. Every brushstroke, every drop of water, every mark matters. That’s what makes it beautiful and alive.

But it also means that water sometimes runs free, pigments sometimes spread further than you planned, and the paper sometimes does things you didn’t expect.

Instead of fighting these qualities, the watercolor artist learns to embrace them. Think of it less like controlling a machine and more like dancing with a partner. Sometimes you lead, and sometimes you follow.

Too Much Water

One of the most common frustrations is flooding your paper with too much water. The pigment swims, puddles form, and suddenly your painting looks out of control. Instead of panicking, pause. A thirsty brush can act like a sponge. Touch it gently to the puddle and watch the water get sucked back into the bristles. A tissue corner pressed softly can do the same. What once felt like a disaster becomes just another step in the process.

When the Color is Too Dark

Another mistake is laying down a wash that is darker than you intended. Perhaps your pale blue sky has turned into midnight. While the paint is still wet, a tissue can lift some of that color, lightening the area instantly. If it has dried, all is not lost. Dampen the area again with clean water, wait a moment, and then gently blot or lift with a soft brush. You may not return to pure white paper, but you will soften the heaviness and bring back balance.

Harsh Edges

Sometimes the paper dries unevenly, leaving hard, unwanted edges. This can spoil the smooth look of a sky or a face. The solution here is timing. While the edge is still damp, run a wet, clean brush along it. The paint will soften and blend. If it has dried completely, you can glaze over it with another thin wash, uniting the patch into harmony. Edges are not your enemy. They are just a reminder that water dries on its own schedule.

Most of what I’m mentioning here revolves around how good your watercolor wash control is. While this can be a big and sometimes complicated subject for beginners, I’ve created a course called 50 Watercolor Wash Exercises. It comes with 50 videos, and all the information is also curated into a downloadable PDF. If you’re serious about taking your watercolor wash skills to the next level, you can grab your course here.

Accidental Drops and Splashes

Every watercolor artist has been betrayed by a drop of paint landing where it wasn’t meant to. A splash across your page feels heartbreaking in the moment. But stop and look again. Could that dot become a bird in the sky? Could that splash become a flower in the field? Watercolor has a way of inviting your imagination. What began as a mistake often turns into a discovery. Some of my favorite paintings are loved most not because they are flawless, but because they carry these little surprises.

When the Paper Itself Gets Hurt

Sometimes in our eagerness to “fix” things, we overwork the paper. Scrubbing too hard with a wet brush can roughen the surface. The best solution is to stop. Let it dry. Once the fibers have calmed, you can paint gently over it again. And with experience, you’ll learn the limits of your paper. Stronger papers can handle more corrections; thinner ones ask for a lighter touch. Respecting your paper is part of respecting the process.

The Secret of Happy Accidents

Here’s a truth I wish every beginner knew: some of the most beautiful effects in watercolor come from what first looks like a mistake. A bloom caused by too much water may look like an accident, but in the right context, it becomes the softness of a cloud or the shimmer of a petal. A drip may become the trunk of a tree. A splash may turn into stars. Watercolor rewards those who look with curiosity instead of judgment.

Practice to Build Confidence

The best way to stop fearing mistakes is to practice them on purpose. Paint a wash too dark and then try to lighten it. Flood an area with water and then lift it with a tissue. Splash paint across a page and then turn the splashes into tiny birds or flowers. Each time you do this, you train your eyes and hands to see possibilities instead of problems. Over time, mistakes will no longer scare you. They will become familiar friends.

How to Do This in Watercolors

So how do you bring this into your own paintings?

The answer lies in practice. Deliberate, playful, steady practice.

Leave paper whites to save your highlights.
Repeat your washes until your brush feels natural.
Learn to control water so that “mistakes” happen less often, and when they do, you know how to guide them.

And that’s exactly why I created my 50 Watercolor Wash Exercises course. These exercises are simple on the surface — squares, circles, gradients, and patterns — but each one trains your hand to manage water, pigment, and timing. The very things that cause mistakes become skills in your control.

If you often feel like your watercolor paintings “get away from you,” this set of exercises is your solution. It’s structured practice that builds confidence, one wash at a time.

👉 You can check it out here

Well…..

Mistakes in watercolor are not the end.

They are part of the story.

Every smudge, splash, or drip is a lesson, sometimes even a gift.

When they happen, do not tear your paper in frustration. Pause. Breathe. Ask yourself: Can I lift it? Can I soften it? Can I turn it into something else?

This gentle attitude is what transforms beginners into artists. Not the absence of mistakes, but the ability to embrace them.

Remember, a watercolor painting is never just about control. It is about dance, surprise, and light. And often, the parts you once wanted to hide are the very ones that make your work come alive.

END OF ARTICLE

Batch 4 of the 52 Week Watercolor Challenge is now open for enrolment! 🎉

Earlier, I had planned to stop after Batch 3, since I personally reply to every feedback email—and it was getting overwhelming. But I’ve decided to bring back a new batch with a slight twist.

Batch 4 comes with all the same features as before, except personal feedback from me. The good news? It’s now available at a 50% lower price than the previous batches, making it more accessible for anyone who simply wants a structured weekly prompt to keep their creative wheels turning.

We begin on 20th September 2025.
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