Pastel
Pastels are simple to make, ground pigments; soot, chalk or earth are bound together with gum Arabic to form sticks, these can be used for drawing. More complex organic materials are used to make different colours, but basically the production of pastels has remained unaltered since the fifteenth century.

Popular in the eighteenth century, artists specialised in the 'pastel painting' of portraits, for example Francis Cotes. Paper would be collaged onto prepared canvases and used as a more durable support for these fragile works. The high content of chalk as a base for pastels means that it can be easily smudged and smoothed, producing convincing and subtle three-dimensional effects. Drawings need to be sprayed with a fixative in order to prevent further movement on the surface, but not for too long else the particular powdery and translucent quality of the pastels is deadened.

A selection of examples from the Gallery's collections

• Elizabeth, Duchess of Hamilton and of Argyll by Francis Cotes
• Francis Haward by Ozias Humphry
• George Moore by Henry Tonks
• Charles Montagu Doughty by Eric Henri Kennington
• Sir Ernst Gombrich by Ronald B. Kitaj
• Germaine Greer by Paula Rego

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All images and text are subject to copyright protection. 06 October 2008