I should have left it alone

I should have left well enough alone. Last night I painted Verity's face in acrylics and applied my usual shading and highlights with colored pencil,, pastels, and blush. Next I sprayed the face with fixative - to hold those things in place. I WAS HAPPY WITH THE FACE AND SHOULD HAVE LET IT BE.

But I wanted to try to age the doll (I'm really new to this technique), so I applied Jo Sonja's crackle medium - which appeared to crackle very nicely. When the crackle was completely dry (as per the instructions on the bottle) I painted a wash of thinned dark brown acrylic paint. When I wiped off the excess, much of the crackle wiped off too, leaving a blotchy dirty-looking mess.

I spent the last part of the evening sanding off as much of the disaster as I could - but it's still a little bumpy in places. I repainted the flesh color today after work. I have decided to NOT put any more crackle on this doll.
ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS (hear that a lot at work)... I think the fixative I sprayed on the face to seal it before applying the crackle may not have been acrylic based. Remember the Rule of Thumb - you can paint oil based over acrylic, but not acrylic over oil. I think the crackle medium is acrylic. The fixative spray is Dick Blick brand matte fixative. It doesn't say "acrylic" on it, and it smells like it would make you pretty high and kill off brain cells if used in an enclosed area (which I didn't - I need to retain as many brain cells as possible) - it contains acetone and toluene. So IF I try this crackle thing again, I will try it without applying the fixative first.