I seldom if ever use fixative with my pastels. The boards that I use with pumice surface really holds the pastel without fixative. But I have explored ways of sealing and varnishing my pastels in order to maintain the bright colors and textures without glass. Although I was able to do so, the process was extremely imperfect: It required much labor, lots of coats of spray varnish, much reworking, could not be done in my studio (fumes!), was weather dependent (wind! Think "New Mexico"!)
Recently, another multi-media artist, Bob Burridge, recommended using Spectrafix casein-based fixative as a means of overcoming theses obstacles. I just tried the Spectrafix on a small pastel (above). I cannot see any difference in color or texture from "before" to "after"!! I am AMAZED. I plan to try varnishing it after it sets for a week, per one of the customer comments. Totally no smell or fumes. Cannot wait to try painting a pastel on canvas. It will be great for charcoal drawings, also. Thanks, Bob!
Here is their website: http://spectrafix.com/index.html
PS--I am not receiving a commission from Spectrafix ;>)
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