Glass or fixative, what to chose for your pastels.
The big debate in the pastel community is whether you should use glass or fixative on your paintings. Those who use glass say that fixative dulls the colors of the pastel by binding the particles of pigment. Those who use fixative argue that pastel particles stick to the inside of the glass making dirty.
Then there are those who mat their work and then put glass over it. This seems to be the best solution to preserving your work. The mat keeps the pastel far enough from the glass so that it doesn’t get covered by particles, which keeps you from having to use fixative. The only set back to this is that the particles get caught between the mat and the painting which may ruin the edges of the work. Also, you have to use spacers so that the mat doesn’t lay right against the work, smudging it.
Soon we will have some articles on pastels that will let you know more about preserving your art.
Alina
P.S. Don't forget to post your thoughts in the discussion area! We want to hear from you!
