Mistakes in Art

This is from my sketchbook ( a mixture of collage, acrylic, and drawing.) Initially this is what "gold" was supposed to look like. I loved the face, the background, but I didn't like below the neckline at all, seemed unresolved. Anyway I painted it in oil on wood and left it to dry with the thought I could go back and resolve it. Hum, never try to glaze over damp paint. I could have screamed (actually I used some very loud colourful metaphors that I shan't repeat here), as soon as I brushed the glaze over the face it lifted the paint. After calming down and staring at the blank patchy black background it revealed to me what I wanted to say with this piece. Behind the white face were a thousand other faces of those who suffered a terrible fate for no other reason than they served under the enemy, the boers.
I don't know who said this, "'there are no mistakes, only opportunities" but I think it's good to remember. Even if a piece can't be saved there are lessons to learn from it, and sometimes if we are lucky we can see that the mistake is actually a hidden treasure.

mistakes in artart about the boer war