Morning, here is a little update on the mermaid I started last week.

I managed to carve out some time yesterday to work on it. Always feels like a small victory these days.

I added colours to the tail and the body, and started bringing a bit more life into the scene. I also made things a little messier in a good way. Added textures on the shell and corals so it feels more organic, less “placed”, more like it just exists there.

But… I am still not fully happy with it.

This blue light situation is tricky. I am not used to it at all. I keep pushing the colours darker instead of letting them glow. I was aiming for bright underwater light… and I ended up with something a bit moody and muddy.

And then came the masking fluid moment.
Some parts worked beautifully. Clean whites. Very satisfying.

But I also tried a masking fluid pen for the first time… and oh girl. Never again.

It is almost impossible to peel off, and now some areas that were supposed to stay white are stuck with this sad grey tone forever. A little painting trauma.

Also, I used masking fluid in places where I wanted highlights… which I KNOW never really works for me. I have done it before. It failed before. And yet… here we are again.

Artist brain is a mysterious place.

So next step is damage control. Fix what I can. Then push the painting further with details and see if I can bring some light back into it before calling it done.

Honestly, I am trying to treat this one as a learning piece. Not a perfect piece.

But I would love to know what you think:
Have you ever had a tool that completely betrayed you mid painting?

Tell me I am not alone in this chaos.