Funky Solution #2

The primary difference in my painting since the number of children in my household doubled is going from an alla prima (painting all at once, or wet-into-wet) method to a layering method. This has not been by choice: it simply is a result of being unable to continue focusing on expressing myself on canvas while the baby is expressing himself through the monitor. This creates a problem in that I often don't get the canvas completely covered in the first attack. A dried or even tacky canvas, often means re-mixing colors to match what's already on the canvas(since the paint on the palette has usually dried, also), which is hard to do. If I get a color on there that is nowhere to be found in the rest of the piece, it stands out like the proverbial sore thumb. So....

Funky Solution #2: Baby wipes. Yes! If the paint is still even slightly tacky (pretty likely, with oils), take a baby wipe and gently pull the paint over the adjoining bare canvas. As long as the areas are fairly small, there is no noticeable damage to the previous brushstrokes, and the bare areas are no longer glaring at you.

~~Baby wipes are a universal solution (a fact well-known by mothers everywhere)~~