Has your art taught you anything new recently?

I'm more than willing to experiment, although sometimes I have huge regrets but hey, if I learned something then I figure it was a worthwhile investment of my time....and supplies...

And sometimes, my experimenting just causes a whole new set of problems...

If you belong to Gel Press Junkies over on Facebook then you know that I was having some issues with pens not showing up on top of Distress ink backgrounds that I created with my Gel Press® plate. When I set out to sketch my angel I used a ball point pen because I didn't want to ruin any of my other good pens. 

( This was my experimenting with different pens and it was also the start of a brand new problem ) 

So the ball point pens really had the same impact as the Distress inks had...problems covering them up! ( BUT, they did write over the Distress ink, so score!...kinda, lol )You can see the pen marks, and even the paint didn't cover them up, and honestly it was like replacing one problem with another. At least the design of the Distress inks are prettier seeping through the paint than the ball point pen was.

So then I thought I would see if the gelatos would cover the pen marks, which they didn't, but I really do like how well gelatos work over paint...so I thought I would see how well paint goes over gelatos. ( At this point I wasn't even worried about the pen marks, lol Playing had taken over ) So I am liking switching between gelatos and paint so much that I now like the darn piece, pen marks and all...but...

I finally resorted to spraying the piece with a varnish ( which just takes time to let it dry, and I admit I am such an impatient artist ) which then let me come back with another round of gelatos and paint to finish her off, and I really like the results. 

So my lesson I learned? 

Keep going. 

Keep adding.

 Have fun!

And varnish!

What lessons have you learned lately?