Hi, Linda

Please don't use hairspray - it yellows over time - it's not for nothing that some cans of hairspray still state that that they are "non-yellowing" !

I never use fixative as it dulls colours and flattens the pastel so you lose that lovely surface texture and sparkle. Try using a paper with a good tooth, such as Colourfix, which holds many layers of pastel - just give it a good blow when you're finished and it will be fine.

I once went to a Peter Howson exhibition and noticed that several of his pastels had shed dust onto their mounts - the attendant assured me that this was inevitable as pastel paintings are moved around a lot and was perfectly acceptable.

Hope these tips help.

Veronica

Hi Linda,

I use the same method to post pastels or transport them to the framer.Good luck with your paintings.

Veronica

Linda
I have only recently used pastel but have picked up a couple of pointers. First, if using smooth paper, you can use a craft blade to scrape the pure pastel dust onto the paper, blending colours together with a tissue formed into a point. I have used hairspray which is cheaper than fixative but I did not know about the yellowing. The official line is to have one reverse mount with a second mount over to allow dust to fall between. Cover the drawing with clear perspex sheet taped at the back.
One other technique with pastel is to use a watercolour brush to wet the dust so that it becomes like watercolour. I have yet to try this in a serious work. Colourfix is something to try.
The blind leading the blind, but it may help.

Linda,
thank you for starting this thread & to the others who have helped me to put to bed all the conjecture abour fixative use.

Now I can see why joining the SAA is going to be such a good investment

Hi Linda. I work almost entirely in pastels so I have some experience here. Before spraying I always give the work a good tap and shake. I then put the painting flat on the floor and spray from waist height, keeping my arm moving so that you get a fine, even spray.
Pastel is pure pigment so it will always be susceptible to jarring movements causing tiny specks of dust. Howevr, the surface you paint on will make a massive difference. The paper that holds the most pigment and creates least dust in my opinion is pastelmat. Hope this helps. Carol

i use pastelmat to and i used fixative on a drawing that had alot of white, to my horror it turned it grey!! never again will i use it, i just stick them behind glass instead :)