How to Properly Ventilate Art Studio While Using Pastels

I accept heard people say that oil pastels are similar to children's colouring crayons. I think those people must not have used artist quality oil pastels. I've been using them lately and drawing/painting with artists oil pastels feels more like using lipstick than crayons. I think they are gorgeous!

Oil pastel is unlike oil pigment in that it never dries. The cartoon/painting volition always exist smudge-able and tin can attract dust to the surface. Oil pastel drawings are e'er framed behind glass to protect them. Sennelier make an Oil Pastel Fixative that comes in both an aerosol spray tin and liquid in a glass bottle to be decanted into a sprayer or brushed on. It says on the can/bottle that it protects from dust and smudging. I thought I would come across how well it worked.

I did a quick test on little sketches using the Sennelier Oil Pastel Fixative aerosol and it didn't work well, it made it more sticky. So I fix up some more than intensive tests and here are all the things I establish out.

Tests
I was looking for protection of oil pastel against smudging and the stickiness that attracts dust. Likewise paying attention to the gloss/matte terminate of final surface.

I tested –
•3 papers: Sennelier Oil Pastel card, Pastelmat textured newspaper, cartridge sketchbook newspaper.
•Types of pastels: Sennelier and Daler-Rowney oil pastels, plus oil pastel with Zest-it castor-cleaner solvent, and a dry hard pastel.
•Fixatives: Sennelier Oil Pastel Fixative in aerosol, Sennelier Oil Pastel Fixative in bottle, and Lascaux Soft Pastel Fixative.
•Amounts of coats applied: 0 to 4.

Test one-
I did some quick sketches on cartridge paper and sprayed the correct side with the aerosol spray and after information technology was stale establish it had fabricated it more gluey and was still smudgy. It seemed to have failed.

First test on little apple sketches. Correct apple was sprayed with 2 coats of Sennelier Oil Pastel Fixative aerosol. Was gummy and smeared easily. Didn't seem to work. It did put a nice gloss on the color while leaving the paper matte. (Click on image for larger version.)

Exam 2-
I did a larger drawing on Sennelier Oil Pastel Card and sprayed the right one-half using the canteen version decanted into a pump spray. I waited some time between the ii coats to exist sure it was dry out. It did not smudge. It seemed to piece of work. The shine left was speckly because the pump spray left petty dots. Simply I didn't heed the texture.

I did the cartoon on Sennelier Oil Pastel Paper. You lot can see that it is thick card and each sheet is separated past glassine. (Click on epitome for larger version.)

I drew an apple with Daler-Rowney and Sennelier oil pastels. Fairly thick, layered and blended. (Click on image for larger version.)

I used the other Sennelier Oil Pastel Fixative that comes in a glass bottle that needs a sprayer or brush.

The Sennelier Oil Pastel Fixative comes in a glass bottle and needs to exist decanted into a spraying device. I used the Jackson's Spray Diffuser. (Click on image for larger version.)

I sprayed the correct side of the image with 2 coats of the fixative. They were pretty thick coats – 8-10 inches away 3 total pumps of the sprayer. I waited an hour between coats to be sure the first coat was dry. It takes a while to dry because the surface is completely non-absorbent.

The spray set-up. You can see the moisture area on the covering cardboard where the overspray is.

Apple cartoon later on spraying with 2 coats on the right-mitt side.

1. shown direct on

ii. shown at an angle with raking light to testify fixative gloss

three. at an even more extreme angle to show the most gloss of the fixative.

(Click on paradigm for larger version.)

Exam 3-
Using Daler Rowney on the left and Sennelier on the right I layered and blended a good amount of oil pastel. And then I sprayed parts with unlike amounts of coats of fixative.
1 to 2 coats were even-looking just didn't prevent smudging. 3 to 4 coats became more speckled in texture but prevented the smudging. So the key seems to be to get enough oil pastel fixative on. The testing that succeeded was with the glass bottle version decanted into a pump spray and so I wanted to see if more than coats of the droplets would also piece of work. After more tests I constitute that more coats of the droplets did not better the matter, merely made information technology worse. Note: if you have used a thin coat of oil pastel, drawn lightly, it takes less fixative.

Oil pastel examination, ready to be sprayed with fixative.

After spraying half of the exam drawing with different numbers of coats of fixative I examination all parts for smudging.

Areas with but 1 or 2 coats even so smudged.

Test iv, five, half-dozen
All 3 pastels on 3 dissimilar papers with different amounts of coats of the ii oil pastel fixatives and the 1 soft pastel fixative.

Test 7
Oil Pastel with the bottle oil pastel fixative used every bit a solvent (and is automatically a fixative after drying).

Oil Pastel Fixative in the bottle used equally a solvent (and when dry becomes a fixative).

Test eight
Oil Pastel fixative liquid brushed on one-half the painting. Results: if applied carefully it works well and leaves a shine gloss finish. The only trouble is the staining of the unpainted paper you tin can run across in the right side of the photo. So you lot would want to avoid blank areas of paper.

Oil Pastel Fixative in the bottle brushed on the lower part of the drawing. Left image is shown straight on. (The light looking area is the colour of the drawing, not the gloss.) Correct image is at an angle to testify gloss which you cannot run across in the left photo.

Results
Things that I discovered:
Gloss/Matte terminate:
•Soft Pastel fixative is matte on paper and on pastels while Oil Pastel fixative is gloss on oil pastels and matte on paper.
•Three coats of SOFT pastel fixative is a medium protection against oil pastel smudging without adding gloss.

Sennelier Oil Pastel paper repels water and swells and leaves "blisters" with solvents. It doesn't similar liquids.

Papers:
•Sennelier Oil Pastel Carte doesn't similar liquids; information technology swells desperately with solvents and repels water. Merely it is a lovely surface if used without liquids.
•The Sennelier Oil Pastel Fixative in the canteen (non the aerosol) leaves gloss too on the newspaper when using Pastelmat paper just not when used on Sennelier Oil Pastel carte du jour or cartridge newspaper.

Sennelier Oil Pastel Fixative aerosol versus bottle:
•Sennelier Oil Pastel Fixative in the aerosol can and the liquid in the bottle are two different products. The aerosol warns of xylene, the aerosol dries quickly while the bottle dries slowly, the aerosol smells like spray paint while the bottle smells like hairspray, the aerosol adds gloss to Sennelier make pastels simply not to Daler-Rowney while the canteen adds gloss to both.
•The Sennelier Oil Pastel Fixative in aerosol does non terminate smudging and makes the pastel more sticky. It was a complete failure. I have written to Sennelier to inquire what the problem might exist and am waiting to hear from them.
•The Sennelier Oil Pastel Fixative in the bottle adds a lot of protection if applied thickly, virtually smudge-proof.
•The bottle fixative tin exist brushed on if you are conscientious and this gives a much more even coating than the pump spray which leaves a spotty texture.

Solvents:
•The canteen fixative actually makes a fair oil pastel solvent – and then it could be used as a solvent and and so left on every bit a gloss varnish, as regular solvents leave the oil pastel with a matte finish.
•Oil Pastel paintings fabricated using solvents don't demand a fixative very much.

Other:
•Sennelier oil pastels are a bit softer than Daler-Rowney.
•Oil pastel fixative does set up soft pastel.
•Our plastic diffuser bottles deteriorate when filled with alcohol based products.

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Source: https://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/2013/08/02/oil-pastel-fixative-testing/

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