I found in my drawer a spoiled picture I painted years ago, when I didn't know how to watercolor. It was faded and I had painted it with poor quality school paint, which has much lower pigment content than normal watercolor. I didn't like it that way, so I decided to repaint it. It might end up in the trash, but at least I tried.
This was the original painting, after washing. The top layer has worn off, the rest of the paint soaked into the paper.
This is what it became. How much more powerful is it?
First I damped the picture thoroughly. It is stuck to the plastic-coated drawing board and has become smooth.
I took my paints and the old plastic card, which I used to create a texture. The bottom is dark purple, sepia and Payne grey.
I used a brush to apply light green, dark green and dark blue to the leaves.
Then I used plastic card:
The left and middle plants have red flowers with a little yellow.
The plant on the right has turned bluish-purple. The sky is azure and ultramarine.
I used a little white tempera at the end.
Details:
The whole process took no more than half an hour.
It was a good experiment. Maybe I should have stopped at half time and left the background as it was. Which phase do you think is the best?