Touch Up Old Picture with Marker

I had found an old framed oil painting of a bowl of flowers by a window in the trash when a neighbor moved. I dusted and washed it off and saved it. The picture was sort of nice, so I hung it in the bathroom, a good place for it as I wouldn't have to worry about ruining it! Even though I basically liked the picture, the colors the yellowish roses and a brown vase were sort of blah.

Then, the other day, when I was working in the bathroom, I had the idea of "mashing up" the colors on the picture. What did I have to lose? So I took pink high-liter markers and turned the yellow/white flowers into a sort of pink (more like nature), took green marker to the leaves, and I touched up the blue highlights in the window, too. I went on to put some touches of permanent pink marker on the roses. When the bowl looked too yellowish-brown, I took a violet permanent marker and touched up the bowl and the bottom of the picture to make the brown more violet to go better with the now pink roses.

The trick seemed to be to apply the marker and then smooth it in, to blend with my finger. I then put some baby oil on the oil painting to brighten it up. Voila! A formerly blah picture now goes very nicely with the rest of the art in my pink bathroom! Now, what can you mash up?

P.S. I have also touched up yellow roses in an area rug with permanent pink marker.

By pam munro from L.A., CA