Correcting Over Application of Pastel

One of our members Christine sent in her work in progress asking for advice. Christine said:

I am enclosing a photo of the Kingfisher from the workshop pack I am doing at the moment I am having a bit of trouble with the light blue feathers they don’t seem to show the white highlights like it does Colin’s Kingfisher I have used the double ended eraser on it twice but I am wary rubbing it out to much does Colin have any suggestions.

In this case it is likely the paper has been crushed due to over application. The only way out would be to carefully erase the area using the hard end (white) with the double ended eraser. This will right up the paper slightly and take the colour off. You can then carefully add more white then the light blue.This is not an ideal solution but it has worked for my students. It can be done only once so however it turns out leave it alone. The way to do this in future is to layer the base colours lightly so that the pastel paper has enough grip left to accept the finishing colours.We have a video on how to overcome crushed paper on our YouTube Channel. Check it out below:Feedback and advice such as we've given Christine above is available to members of our website. If you would like to learn more about our membership click here.