Eric Watson - pastel demonstration

Eric Watson used pastels, pastel pencils and watercolour pencils in a very able demonstration of animal portraiture on Tuesday. He provided plenty of tips that could be used just as readily for other subjects. There are two websites where you can see his work Eric Watson and The Priory Gallery

Eric uses white cartridge paper as the smooth surface allows for easy blending of pastels and a white support provides the majority of the white in his images. Blending is carried out either with a finger or with a torchon made from kitchen paper. When working with pencil the sharpness of the point was kept for longer by constantly rotating the pencil as marks are applied. When 90% of the animal was completed he added a background by laying the support flat on the floor, brushing off loose pigment, cleaning the background area with a putty rubber and then using a scalpel to shave off pigment from the pastel stick and then using finger or torchon to blend.
Images showing various stages of the demonstration follow