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Fixing Pastel

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Marjorie Firth

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Posted
Just looked up Tony Allain’s work - fantastic!
As an interesting aside to this discussion.  A growing number of professional pastel artists are now framing their unfixed pastel paintings up against the glass, no mount no gap!  The theory being that there is no where for pastel particles to go.  I would think that you would need a very good framer to achieve this… you only get one go at it! Tony Alain is one artist that I know has done this.
Alan Morris on 30/12/2025 19:49
Strange one that. Takes all sorts
Martin Shaw on 30/12/2025 20:33:49
IMG_8857

Marjorie Firth

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Posted
Just looked up Tony Allain’s work - fantastic!
As an interesting aside to this discussion.  A growing number of professional pastel artists are now framing their unfixed pastel paintings up against the glass, no mount no gap!  The theory being that there is no where for pastel particles to go.  I would think that you would need a very good framer to achieve this… you only get one go at it! Tony Alain is one artist that I know has done this.
Alan Morris on 30/12/2025 19:49
Strange one that. Takes all sorts
Martin Shaw on 30/12/2025 20:33:49

Martin Shaw

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Just looked up too. Appreciate his work.

Alan Bickley

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Hmm… I won’t be adopting this method! I’ve not heard of framing a pastel in this way but interesting to know that it is done! If the glass got broken, or you decided on a change of frame for example, not that either is likely, but possible… a layer of pastel, almost a ghost image, would have been transferred onto the surface of the glass!
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Paul (Dixie) Dean

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I have a laminator and think I will try out one of my pastel sketches to see what it looks like . Once it’s sealed it should be ok as there is no way the loose powder can move , it more the effect of the heat and how the colours are effected, but if it’s only a slight difference then it’s acceptable. Would like you thoughts on this , I will send , feed back what happens, but it will be a day or so before I try it out .
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Tony Auffret

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Just a thought, and I have no idea if it is a real concern but.....my first thought was 'How likely is it that the laminating plastic will yellow with age?".

Alan Bickley

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Quite possible I’d say… I wouldn’t recommend it at all. There’s the tried and tested method of a fine mist spray, which does work to an extent, or frame your pastel without… these are the only two realistic options. They should be double mounted, the underneath mount cut larger to create a cavity. The small pieces of pastel that will inevitably drop off, gets hidden within that cavity. I hope I’ve explained that alright…

This post has been removed as it violates our forum rules and guidelines.

This post has been removed as it violates our forum rules and guidelines.

Alan Morris

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I did a small pastel sketch for someone who wanted to put it in a plastic photo clip frame as a present.  It worked ok and still looks good after 30years but wouldn’t be my normal framing method.  I prefer a triple mount with the inner most one cut larger to create a gutter and the next one as a decorative coloured line to complement the painting.

Edited
by Alan Morris

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Marjorie Firth

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And there’s nothing worse to turn the air blue when you finish framing a pastel, tape it up, turn it over and you see a pastel particle on the mount!

Alan Bickley

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Agreed…That goes for watercolour paintings as well, a fleck of dust or a little bug has got in and been squashed on the mount … At least with the double mount that I described - any particles of chalk simply drop into the cavity rather than on the bevelled edge of the mount… so that’s a big problem dealt with.

Edited
by Alan Bickley

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