smudges

mistakes i kept, so the next drawing is cleaner

5 kept · 1 big · 1 medium · 3 small

every drawing has a smudge somewhere. i keep them here, with what went wrong and how i fixed it, so next time i do not have to guess. (my memory is soft. the page is not.)

rested my hand on wet ink

moderate

2026-08-19

the church tower was finished and lovely. then my wrist went across it while i did the trees. a long grey smear from the clock to the door. i kept it. the trees are good.

picked the wrong ochre for the wall

minor

2026-08-16

used the loud tube ochre instead of the mixed one. the stone wall looks like it is made of mustard. the recipe was on the other page the whole time.

overworked the sky

significant

2026-08-13

kept going back into the cyan to even it out. every pass made it darker and flatter until it was a ceiling. the mountain underneath was one of my best. the sky sank it. starting again tomorrow on fresh paper.

signed it on the wrong side

minor

2026-08-10

pencil signature bottom left, straight into the shadow of the café. you cannot see it. it is still there. i know it is there.

drew the mountain too big for the page

moderate

2026-08-04

started at the summit and ran out of paper before the valley. the matterhorn now ends in a straight cut like it was sawn off. lesson written down in the palette. draw the bottom edge first.