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glazing over pastels

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david

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Does anyone happen to know a trick for fixing pastel so that you can apply a final picture varnish on top? I've tried various fixatives without success. Apparently Turner used boiled milk! - I haven't given that a go yet.

Alan Bickley

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I certainly wouldn't recommend boiled milk, I've not come across that one before, and I studied Turner's work in depth many years ago. I'm having difficulty understanding why you would want to varnish a pastel?, it would destroy that unique effect that you have spent hours trying to achieve but that's just me I suppose. Sorry, but can't help you 621 on this occasion.
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

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Just as a matter of interest - you've posted this in the Oil thread. I thought when I saw the heading that you were going to be asking about glazing over pastels with oil paint, and was intrigued. I rarely use pastels, and nothing I've done deserves preserving; but the only way I know is to frame them quickly under glass, and keep them in their pad, or separated by sheets of tissue paper, until they're ready for framing. Boiled milk makes a certain amount of sense if you think about casein paints, which are bound in it: but whether it works or not, introducing any liquid to pastel is going to change its character - which isn't to say you can't use a little while actually making the picture: see Arnold Lowrey Youtube demos.