I love working with pastels but find the cost of preparing a lot of pieces for a show very expensive. Wanting to find an alternative I came up with my glazed pastel method. I mount the paper to a panel and then work the painting as usual. When I’m finished I seal the pastel to the paper and board by spraying it with several coats of clear varnish. I’m sure many pastel purists are horrified but I usually do this on smaller pieces. I have several in my studio that I did many years ago and find they retain their brilliant color. Here are a few I’ve recently completed.
Three Amigos - original pastel 8 x 8 inches. Mounted to cradled panel and sealed with acrylic spray.
These two are completed using the same method.
Red Onion - Original pastel mounted to panel and sealed. 6 x 6 inches.
Pearly Hanging By a String - Pastel on panel
Interesting to read you spray your pasels with varnish. I may have to try that, thanks for the tip
Cheers JJ
Hey JJ, yes I’ve been doing that to some of them on panel and one or two on canvas for a few years now. The ones I’ve kept are still as bright as the day I did them. Do give it a try and let me know what you think!