Eric John White
Demonstration - "Acrylic Ink and Pastels"
Tuesday 11th February 2025, 2.00 - 4.00pm, in the Pavilion
Eric produced two pictures to an audience of around 40 members - one before and one after the break for refreshments.
In the first half, Eric worked with a coloured image painted earlier on pastel matt paper using acrylic inks which can be diluted with water but dry to a permanent finish. These inks provide strong colours and intense darks. The image was painted with brushes but Eric showed how other tools, such as a cocktail stick, can be used to get sharp thin lines. This painted image must be completely dry before applying the water based pastel which is laid on top in layers as required and in a similar way to ordinary pastels. Water can be used to spread the pastel over the paper to achieve other effects and get a glossy finish.
Eric did not normally use a spray fixer over the pastel but rather prolonged pressure through greaseproof paper, weighted down as necessary, to stabilise the pastel. This requires a rough paper to be effective. To get even more texture in a picture, Eric would sometimes use white acrylic Jesso brushed thickly or spattered (e.g. by using a toothbrush) onto the paper
Eric has a large Faber Castell box of 72 pastels but now also uses pastels from Jackson, Somelier and Unison. He specifically likes the Unison dark blue (A49) which looks almost black but is much more interesting. He pointed out that you do not need 72 pastels (rather expensive) to get started. Either just choose the colours you need or buy a box set for what you want to do, landscapes or portraits for example.
Eric thinks that composition is very important and a mix of horizontal, vertical and diagonal marks (the latter to give movement) is key, as is keeping the corners vague so that the eye is not led away from the main subject.
In the second half, Eric worked on a buff coloured rough paper with no drawn image and only pastels to produce a vivid work very quickly. This was impressive and all looked very easy! The picture was not finished - something Eric would do later. He pointed out that this was much easier to do with pastels than watercolour because they are each a single colour and therefore match perfectly to what has been laid down already, unlike remixing watercolour paints.
Some photographs of the demonstration follow in two galleries - the first before and the second after the break).
Eric thinks that composition is very important and a mix of horizontal, vertical and diagonal marks (the latter to give movement) is key, as is keeping the corners vague so that the eye is not led away from the main subject.
In the second half, Eric worked on a buff coloured rough paper with no drawn image and only pastels to produce a vivid work very quickly. This was impressive and all looked very easy! The picture was not finished - something Eric would do later. He pointed out that this was much easier to do with pastels than watercolour because they are each a single colour and therefore match perfectly to what has been laid down already, unlike remixing watercolour paints.
Some photographs of the demonstration follow in two galleries - the first before and the second after the break).
More about Eric from his website:
"It will come as no surprise that painting and drawing has been my life-long interest and passion. Being entirely self-taught I have had to learn by experimentation, but after decades of practice I have evolved a flexible and personal style that can be adapted to a wide variety of situations. Having initially worked in watercolour and oils, my focus changed when I was given an expensive boxed set of 72 pastels. Initially daunted by such a gift I took my first tentative steps into the medium and was immediately hooked."
Eric's work can be viewed on his website