soft pastels

helenhaia wrote

on 21 Feb 2011 2:41 PM

i've just completed a nude in soft pastels - never really worked in them before and the results are pretty good.  i read that fixatives shouldn't be used as these will alter, and cause the colours to dull.  does anyone have any solutions to this?

Anguidae wrote

on 6 May 2011 3:00 PM

 I've just started using pastels myself. So far I've only played around with gray-scale, while my colors wait patiently for me. I use fixatives, and they do dull the artwork a bit. I always leave my last layer fixative free, that way it still pops. You could do this with your last two, or three layers if you wanted to.  The idea of the fixative is to save your art from blurring, but if your last layers are just fine details, you should be fine. 
 So the solutions are : Don't use fixative on your last layer and/ or, place under glass, or high up. 

sailmary wrote

on 25 Jun 2011 2:25 PM

Mat it, frame it, under glass.  No fixative needed.

DianeC14 wrote

on 29 Jul 2011 1:48 AM

Get it matted and shrink-wrapped at a framer's.  That will make it last a long, long time.

Diane

KatPaints wrote

on 30 Jul 2011 6:32 PM

Sailmary's response is correct and the most professional. You can even get frames that have the mat included for a reasonable price. I would only consider shrink wrapping it if you are selling many works in some sort of a bin at an outdoor art show or something similar.

DianeC14 wrote

on 30 Jul 2011 6:52 PM

Not everyone can afford to get a painting framed just to keep the pastel intact.  I never said that my suggestion was the only correct one and I would never come on here and judge whose suggestion is the best--that is up to the person who asked the question to decide. 

Shrink wrapping is temporary until the artist decides to get it framed or wants to put it in a show and sell it unframed.

This is the second time out of two posts I've made in the past year that someone has told me I'm wrong,  what gives here? 

For one thing I'll just uncheck 'email me replies to this post' and then I won't have to be 'corrected' in my response again when I'm trying to help someone on here.

helenhaia wrote

on 30 Jul 2011 9:58 PM

hi!

nonononono

i for one appreciate your comments very much.  ignore the rest - it's ridiculous - for this kind of forum each person has her own opinion - each of which is valid.  thank you for your input and keep it up!

sailmary wrote

on 31 Jul 2011 8:55 AM

I'd be cautious about using shrink wrap with pastels.  It has a lot of static electricity and could "pull"  off the pastel from the paper it's painted on.  If you don't have an old frame around that's an ok size or don't want to buy one, I'd suggest putting glassine over it, maybe paper clip it so it doesn't shift.  Then you can stack many on top of each other.  If you didn't understand what I'm saying, let me know and I'll try to make it more clear.

Mary

KatPaints wrote

on 31 Jul 2011 9:47 AM

I commented that Sailmary is correct and most professional. She is correct! It Is the most professional way to go. What is incorrect about, matting it, and framing it under glass???  Museums and conservationists follow this practice. I have a friend that securely covers her work as Sailmary just suggested and this is a cheap alternative.

I PERSONALLY would not shrink wrap my work.This is MY opinion. I did this years ago for cheap photos and sketches-- it is not my preference. Plus certain plastics yellow and breakdown over time. I recently pitched a whole bunch of acetate. Beautiful textile designs for silk screening just crumbled to pieces. I'll take paper, not plastic please.

Diane, I never said you were incorrect. I said Sailmary is correct.

Tom Perry wrote

on 12 Aug 2011 7:06 PM

I don't have room to store every thing I want to keep if  framed, even though it is the best way to preserve the paintings.  Instead, I mat the paintings and place a sheet of glassine over it wrapped around the back of the mat and taped with artists tape.  I then place the paintings in a box and slide the box under my bed.

I buy full sheets of glassine and trim them to to the size I need.  The boxes I use to store the completed works are obtained from my local art store they previously held matting material.

For smaller not matted paintings and sketches I use books of glassine pages originally used to store full sheets of gummed postage stamps.  I believe a tablet of tracing paper may also work for this.  The idea in all cases is to keep the covering from shifting against the art work.

The crystal clear plastic works well for graphite and colored pencil though.

DianeC14 wrote

on 12 Aug 2011 8:37 PM

I thought I'd disabled the immediate notice for this discussion, I guess not.  It's like a nightmare that sort of follows a person....