Scrubbed Paper

I was reading my Alex Powell watercolor book.. He mentioned that he recycled watercolor paper by crubbing off a failed painting in the bathtub with a strong bristled brush.. I have plenty of watercolors that just didn't work out, and paper is expensive (I just paid almost $60 bucks for 15 sheets of A2 hot press watercolor pad.. Thats nearly $4 a sheet).

So I took on of my less than masterpieces and headed for the bathroom.  What the scrubbing did was take of not only the old painting, but also the sizing.  This is a layer sprayed on the paper to make it less absorbant so that the watercolor paint sits on the surface of the paper.

When I reused the paper I got a very interesting effect.. quite rough looking.. The paint just dissapeard into the paper, so had not blending ability at all.

I painted a pic of David Gulpilil from a scene in Baz Lurman's film Australia.. I actually like the result.

The white splatters were done after I finished the painting with China White.

let me know what you think
regards
Pete