http://www.painters-online.co.uk artistMarch 2021 51
PRACTICAL
and are easy and effective to use.
Staedtler’s rubber is bright white
and comes in a card sleeve; bigger
and chunkier, it is perfect for larger
drawings. I remove the sleeve and use
the sharp sides of the eraser. I often cut
slithers off my plastic erasers in order
to draw neat, sharp lines; the different
slithers and sections are used over
and over again for detailed marks and
highlights as well as broader strokes.
The advantage of a vinyl eraser
over a putty rubber is its firm, sharp
rectangular shape. The sharp sides
can be dragged across the surface to
transfer pigments such as graphite
powder or charcoal powder in a
technique akin to using a dry chisel
brush or piece of card. Unlike the brush
or card, the eraser can be used in a
side-to-side movement on its edge
to reveal a lighter tone or highlight.
Turning the eraser over and over and
cleaning the edges each time creates a
sharper, cleaner highlight.
The third type of eraser I use is Blu
Tack. Slightly different to a putty rubber,
Blu Tack can be used for subtle tonal
passages in drawings and its stickiness
means that pigments are quickly lifted
out. It’s a great alternative to putty and
plastic erasers.
Stiff hog brush
Hog brushes by their very nature are
stiff-haired brushes and are great for
lifting out pigments in watercolour
and pastel paintings. Load the hog
brush with clean water and, using
firm pressure, stroke the brush into
passages of paint you want to lighten.
The key is to remember to blot out the
damp water, clean the pigments from
the brush and repeat, otherwise you
will push the pigments deeper into the
paper rather than remove them.
I highly recommend using the stronger,
100-per-cent cotton watercolour papers
if you want to use this technique as
wood pulp paper will slough and
disintegrate.
Nail brushes
For larger areas that need to be
seriously lightened and reworked it
is not uncommon for me to take a nail
brush to them; the pigments are then
blotted with kitchen roll. On occasion
the entire painting will be dropped
into a deep sink, soaked and as much
media as possible is removed before
I start again. The remaining image is
often a work of art in itself and inspires
a completely new direction – suchas Autumn - Kirkstone Pass (below),
which illustrates this radical overhaul
technique perfectly.
So, never give up on a painting. There
is a way forward, it might take a bit of
bottle to give it the wholesale radical
redevelopment treatment but it’s far
better than tearing it up and chucking
away your efforts. There is always value
in your marks and certainly value in your
paper – especially a beautiful 100-per-
cent cotton paper of serious weight!p Autumn – Kirkstone Pass (ongoing studio mixed-media painting)
At the closing stages of the initial painting I felt I had overworked it, basically I tried too hard.
Knowing the 100-per-cent rag content paper was strong enough to take the next stage, I
immersed the entire mixed-media painting in the sink. Pastel and watercolour lifted out easily,
acrylic inks were more difficult. To remove many of those painted layers I used a kitchen scourer.
Once dry I was left with a fantastic foundation on which to work again. Watch this space!Robert Dutton
is an associate member of the Society of Graphic Fine Art.
He teaches mixed-media drawing and painting techniques
in the Lake District, the Peak District, the Wirral and north
Norfolk as well as workshops and masterclasses online
(www.shopkeeparty.com). Robert has won many awards
for his work. His book Drawing Dramatic Landscapes,
New Ideas and Innovative Techniques using Mixed Media,
published by Search Press, rrp £19.99, is available to
purchase at a discounted price from our online bookstore:
http://bit.ly/3cw1AUX. http://www.rdcreative.co.ukTARobert on painting location
in The Lake DistrictPhotograph by
Richard Littlewood.
http://www.richard-littlewood.com