The other missing piece here, as I do use oil pastels, and have been painting for 50 years, is underneath oil pastels I use GESSO-- so that helps adherence and that scratch-thing...also, my experience is the Sennelier fixative makes my oil pastels ROCK hard --I've never had a problem with any scratches, or anything...and then you can use an oil varnish like Gamvar or Chealsea Damar Lavender varnish which is petroleum free.
Hello Ma'am, you apply Gamvar after the fixative? I have an oil pastel on canvas that I want to varnish. Would the Gamvar change the color of the pastels after being sprayed properly with Fixative? Thx
First Syndia, , thank you for providing much needed information regarding fixatives and varnishes for oil pastels. I feel like the insistance that oil pastels Must be protected under glass may be detrimental to people accepting oil pastels as a great medium. I personally dislike glass framed art work. Many modern galleries in the US will not accept glass framed art because it looks dated , is expensive and just doesn’t give the right message. I wonder if a scratch test is misleading without at least 3 -4 applications of Sennelier Oil Pastel Fixative. with 24 hours in between each application. I wait at least 14 days after I finish an oil pastel painting before spraying. I then allow 24 hours between each light application. After 3-4 sprays with this technique , my framed paintings have held up very well for several years so far. I’ve had no fading , no scratches. I’ve been able to dust , touch , move the paintings and ship them with no problems. Hope this information is helpful. Again , thank you for sharing your information.
Thanks for taking the time to write Carol, It's much appreciated. I will absolutely redo a 4 coats scratch test. It sounds promising. I FULLY agree with you, oil pastels are great! Have a great week ahead :o)
Hello Syndia! Very intersesting topic. Thanks for this instructive video. I've talked to a well known art supplier working with French museums. Apparently, oil pastels do more or less dry after one to three years. After this period, it is possible to use an oil pastel varnish with oil pastels as it kind of interacts with them the same as with oil paint. Varnish gets yellow with time however, so the best is to use a thin layer and to respect the pastel drying period. Concerening the acrylic gels you used, they might be more stable in time due to their synthetic nature. Regards
Hey, so I tried liquitex acrylic gloss gel over an oil pastel picture I made, today. Unfortunately, every brush stroke created massive streaks in my picture that are really not great. There's no saving this picture, but that's okay. Next time, I'll try a spray fixative first, then gloss gel over it. I hope this helps someone else before they ruin a nice picture.
Yoo thank you so much for this comment. I literally never thought of using s spray fixative before the gloss varnish! I've just been commissioned with an A1 size soft pastel piece (never worked with soft pastel as the main medium before), so I'm here looking to see how to varnish this medium. Your comment helped more than the video 😂 ... Video was still helpful though!
Hi as a painter I use Mediums regularly, Liquitex Matt Medium and other brands can be difficult to use if you want them to be streak free. I water my medium down to nearly half because it dries very quickly. while you are using it and can cause it to streak. Never go back and brush more on once you have done a brush stroke, do one layer and let it dry, I recommend at least two layers, if you brush it on one way in the next layer brush it on the opposite way. Use a very soft nylon brush as wide as you can get, fewer brush strokes the better and skim the brush over the surface to stop it making groves with the bristles. It takes practice and I myself can say it is my lest favorite task to seal my paintings but it has light fast properties and you can use varnish on top whether you want a gloss, satin or matt finish, putting a Matt Varnish on top will take the gloss away from the medium. Hope this was helpful and thank you for your video I really enjoyed it 🙂
@@DoodleBob102 , I have been using these mediums in a couple of different brands, (they are pretty much all the same in my opinion) for about 5 years. The mediums behave just like a varnish as far as when applied to acrylic paint which can dull some what when dry, if you apply a medium in my opinion the colors become richer. A gloss medium being the shiniest will highlight color more, then satin to matt medium, but in my opinion the richness of color you achieve between the different mediums is minimal. An example would be if you take a non shiny surface and put clear plastic over it, it appears richer, right?. Mediums are a type of liquid plastic essentially that you can paint onto a surface and their main functions when used to seal a work like a varnish are to protect your work from moister, make it easy to clean your work, protecting work from damage,protect work from UV so it does not fade and of course for me to use in different applications for my acrylic painting which are numinous. I would just make some tests up and muck around with it Just a tip here in Australia it gets pretty hot, the cooler the room the easier it is to deal with when sealing work, this stuff drys pretty quick even when watered down half and half with water. Happy creating.
Thank you for tackling this subject! Here are some thoughts from my own experience: 1.I agree that acrylic gloss offers the strongest protection. I use a paint sprayer to apply, so no streaks or smudges! I use an inexpensive industrial sprayer off of Amazon with a small compressor. 2. You can spray acrylic matte or satin medium on top of the dried gloss layer to gain the matte/satin finish. 3. As you say, the sealer is just that, a layer on top of an unstable oil base. Therefore even the gloss layer can be torn away, so still be gentle! Doing so it will last a long time and can be wiped with a damp rag to remove dust and grime Thanks again. 👍
So the acyrlic gloss gel is good over oil pastels? I want to use canvas and I have found it works very well but wasn't sure of long term effects and was concerned about using it on pieces to sell
To varnish watercolors, I use a a gloss spray varnish, 3 - 4 coats. Then I use a matte spray varnish on top, two coats. The reason I use the matte second is: 1) matte sprays and matte mediums have a tendency to make a picture milky., and 2) Ggoss coats bring out the colors. So, when I apply the matte spray on top of the gloss, I already have sharp colors. This might work for oil pastels (appyl gloss first, then go over the gloss with matte).
Finally, I found that the very best result for oil pastels is to use Epoxy Resin. I got amazing results with it :o) (I made a video on the whole process...) Have a great week ahead!
@@SyndiaArt Thank you, Syndia. I just found your channel this weekend. I loved your amazing crayon portrait of Liv Tyler. I also love oil pastels but hate the costs of framing. I am going to find your epoxy video!
@@LynnePriceStudio Here is my resin full process and test piece ua-cam.com/video/XwkHYWhtXM4/v-deo.html And in this next one, at around 0:59 I varnish my Madonna portrait. Resin was a revelation :)
I love this video so much! And your art piece here is so gorgeous!!! I’ve watched it several time! I wish I could find more tutorials on whimsical, oil pastel art, like this❤❤❤.
Probably overkill, but this is my approach. A quick spray of the good fixative. Just to hold the oil pastels in place. Then a quick coat of the gloss medium. Once that dries, top it off with matte medium to reduce the gloss. What I worry about is what will happen over time. It makes me reticent to use my oil pastels even though I love them. On top of everything else, framing with glass is expensive, heavy, and hard to ship.
I work in apn aet store. You can use Satin Gel Medium if you dont want it to be glossy or go over the gell with an acrylic varnish. Id use Satin Medium or Satin Topcoat. You can maybe use the sennelier fixative then an acrylic top coat
So helpful! I want to try using the liquitex gloss gel and see if I can paint over my painting following the original strokes to keep the texture and movement. Gonna do some experiment on it, thank you for the information and inspiration!
thank you for sharing. I also have seen artists preserve works with glossy gel. The reason to use spray is if you are willing to redo your painting. to add something or reuse the surface. framing is pretty expensive part of finished work)
I have used gloss medium and then minwax polycrylic when I have used oil pastels on a canvas board and it has worked fine, on paper i just use fixative in 3 or 4 thin layers and that seems fine also 💖
So happy you like my videos! Right now i'm in the middle of a 30 day abstract painting challenge but there will be more oil pastels in the future... Have a great weekend!
Hi Syndia, Thank you for a good review video. I guess I'll stick to the spray one and try doing 2nd coat. I do woodworking and for varnishing/oiling woods and in general at least 2 coat is recommended. Thanks again!
Another option is to try the Golden Archival Spray Varnish. It comes in a variety of different finishes. I think the satin finish looks and performs the best. The matte finish stays tacky for a longer period of time, so it's best to let it dry overnight before handling the painting. The Golden Archival Spray Varnish in particular offers full UV protection, so you don't have to frame your painting under glass. Another option is to use the Krylon Matte Finish Varnish, which works pretty great (but no real UV protection). I let it dry for a few hours before I start handling the painting again. Both of these work better than Sennelier's fixative, in my experience. If you're purchasing in the UK, you can grab the Golden varnish at Jacksonsart.com and the Krylon at utrechtart.com
I use these on my watercolors. Satin and matte can look milky, so I apply gloss first (3 - 4 layers), and then add two layers of matte varnish. Works great to keep the integrity of the chalky look of watercolor.
Thanks for a quick and informative video 😀 I'd give this a go this on my sketchbook paintings that are experiments. Larger full invested pieces I stick to just using glassine 🙈 not even fixative. Personal preference as I'm using highest lightfast rated oil pastels and are not super smudgy (Caran d'Ache Neopastels) I love how they seem to set after a few days depending on the type of paper used. Toothy paper = more "drying"/setting in time. I mark the position of the glassine to the artwork so when I handle it it goes back the same way I take it out. I love your experiments 💃 the resin one is intriguing!
Thank you for sharing. I'm painting a fairly big painting on canvas 1m square and I've been using mostly acrylics but have used floetrol and sprays of silicone in places!! I've then painted over parts (grasses and reeds) in sennelier oil pastels -- so quite a mix going on :) and I'm not sure how to fix and varnish as I've got areas that aren't oil pastels. I've got the sennelier fixative so was thinking of just spraying where I have the grasses but it will also hit the acrylic paint and then was thinking about varnishing the whole of the canvas - I want the work to be satin finished so was thinking about liquitex satin varnish over the whole painting -- have you tried that at all? or the high gloss gel medium (could you mix that with a satin do you think)? I don't want to frame under glass and I was hoping to have the piece for sale as well !!! Thanks so much and very nice to find you - I have subscribed :)
Never tried that. Liquitex has a matte Gel and I know that the gloss gel was the one that sealed oil pastel the most in this testing. If I were you I would try the matte gel on a scrap piece of paper over a thick later of oil pastel and see how it dries. If it's conclusive I would put the matte gel only on the oil pastel sections to seal it before varnishing.
Hey, Thanks for this video. I was wondering if using a matt finish over the glass liquids finish will help with the glare a little? or would it ruin the artwork? Thanks xx
Hi, interesting vid. I've stayed away from oil pastels due to the datum "they never dry". Recently found YT guy-Rich Alan Bass-his solution is to let the work dry for a week or more then to use the Sennelier fixativ. He works with several types of oil pastels and from what Ive seen he uses the harder (less oil) pastels and builds up, with the creamier ones (like Sennelier) last-fat over lean principle... do have a look thru his vids, I think you will enjoy.
I sure will I should be doing that today on one of my paintings. I also don't think the brush detail left in your video from using the gel can also work to add texture and character. I do a lot of abstract brush strokes when doing oil and acrylic paintings and I love the details of them. So I plan to use that little issue as a benefit. I can saw someone use mod podge as a sealer as well, just a thought if you want to try it for your next video. and thanks again for the response.
What about using hair spray or a hair gel as a sealant? Those fixative sprays can get super expensive, and I’m wondering if those would be an option for those of us who are broke.
I was wondering about mixed media painting on canvas. I painted mostly acrylic on my painting but added a little oil pastel in 1 section. Should I spray that section with oil pastel fixative and then varnish over the entire piece? 🤔
is it the Acrylic Gloss Gel by Liquitex that you talk about? Don't understand how the acrylic base would go over oil paint. Can you be specific about the gloss gel please
Nothing that I've tried or read about actually seals oil pastels... The spay is just a flimsy layer of protection. Acrylic Gel is better than the oil pastel spray (more scratch resistant, although you're not technically supposed to put acrylic on an oil base). Anyhoo... here are my latest varnish tests if you're curious: ua-cam.com/video/bogsziEnrPw/v-deo.html
How about soft pastels please? Here in Egypt, most artists use soft pastels from only two brands called Mary’s and Faber-Castell and we were unable to find a useful spray for fixing the material to the paper.
@@lisamcgovernboldgoldie I did and it works really well. I made a video about it documenting the process but I privated it just because I find resin to be tricky (toxic) to work with and although the result is amazingly beautiful I don't feel comfortable recommending it on my channel. I used ''Art Resin''. If ever you try it I would say to make sure to open all windows, wear gloves, protective glasses, a mask and leave the painting to dry in a separate closed room of your house where you won't breath in the fumes all day. Not to sound dramatic, lots of professional artists use resin, but I'm just super extra careful with these things. I don't use oil paints because you need solvents so I'm a big baby when it comes to that stuff. Hope it helps. Sending you tons of inspiration :o)
why not use a matt gel instead of the gloss gel so it isn't glossy. would you get the same protection with the matt gel as with the gloss gel? could you test the matt gel against the gloss gel? I have seen one video using matte medium/varnish. will link below maybe you could compare the 3 for best results. love your work!!ua-cam.com/video/_DPFhB7nrPM/v-deo.html
The other missing piece here, as I do use oil pastels, and have been painting for 50 years, is underneath oil pastels I use GESSO-- so that helps adherence and that scratch-thing...also, my experience is the Sennelier fixative makes my oil pastels ROCK hard --I've never had a problem with any scratches, or anything...and then you can use an oil varnish like Gamvar or Chealsea Damar Lavender varnish which is petroleum free.
Hello Ma'am, you apply Gamvar after the fixative? I have an oil pastel on canvas that I want to varnish. Would the Gamvar change the color of the pastels after being sprayed properly with Fixative? Thx
Great comment. Thank you Heather.
Which oil pastel brand do you use?
First Syndia, , thank you for providing much needed information regarding fixatives and varnishes for oil pastels. I feel like the insistance that oil pastels Must be protected under glass may be detrimental to people accepting oil pastels as a great medium. I personally dislike glass framed art work. Many modern galleries in the US will not accept glass framed art because it looks dated , is expensive and just doesn’t give the right message.
I wonder if a scratch test is misleading without at least 3 -4 applications of Sennelier Oil Pastel Fixative. with 24 hours in between each application. I wait at least 14 days after I finish an oil pastel painting before spraying. I then allow 24 hours between each light application. After 3-4 sprays with this technique , my framed paintings have held up very well for several years so far. I’ve had no fading , no scratches. I’ve been able to dust , touch , move the paintings and ship them with no problems. Hope this information is helpful. Again , thank you for sharing your information.
Thanks for taking the time to write Carol, It's much appreciated. I will absolutely redo a 4 coats scratch test. It sounds promising. I FULLY agree with you, oil pastels are great! Have a great week ahead :o)
Hello Syndia! Very intersesting topic. Thanks for this instructive video.
I've talked to a well known art supplier working with French museums. Apparently, oil pastels do more or less dry after one to three years. After this period, it is possible to use an oil pastel varnish with oil pastels as it kind of interacts with them the same as with oil paint. Varnish gets yellow with time however, so the best is to use a thin layer and to respect the pastel drying period. Concerening the acrylic gels you used, they might be more stable in time due to their synthetic nature.
Regards
Thanks a lot for the info! I appreciate it :)
What about archival varnishes? I know they are available and apparently do not have the yellowing effect over time.
you can varnish with gloss to make tough then varnish with matte to knock back the gloss effect.
Will try, thanks
I was just going to say maybe that would work.
Do you use the Liquitex matte varnish?
Hey, so I tried liquitex acrylic gloss gel over an oil pastel picture I made, today. Unfortunately, every brush stroke created massive streaks in my picture that are really not great. There's no saving this picture, but that's okay. Next time, I'll try a spray fixative first, then gloss gel over it.
I hope this helps someone else before they ruin a nice picture.
Yoo thank you so much for this comment. I literally never thought of using s spray fixative before the gloss varnish! I've just been commissioned with an A1 size soft pastel piece (never worked with soft pastel as the main medium before), so I'm here looking to see how to varnish this medium. Your comment helped more than the video 😂 ... Video was still helpful though!
This made me laugh but yes for sure, sounds like a better idea. Thank you though since I’ll be working on oil pastels 👀
If you want to give the Liquitex another go I have posted some tips on how to use it, if not happy pasteling😉
Hi as a painter I use Mediums regularly, Liquitex Matt Medium and other brands can be difficult to use if you want them to be streak free. I water my medium down to nearly half because it dries very quickly. while you are using it and can cause it to streak. Never go back and brush more on once you have done a brush stroke, do one layer and let it dry, I recommend at least two layers, if you brush it on one way in the next layer brush it on the opposite way. Use a very soft nylon brush as wide as you can get, fewer brush strokes the better and skim the brush over the surface to stop it making groves with the bristles. It takes practice and I myself can say it is my lest favorite task to seal my paintings but it has light fast properties and you can use varnish on top whether you want a gloss, satin or matt finish, putting a Matt Varnish on top will take the gloss away from the medium. Hope this was helpful and thank you for your video I really enjoyed it 🙂
Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it! Have a great week ahead :o)
That’s cool how long have you been using matte medium? and does the color stay the same?
@@DoodleBob102 , I have been using these mediums in a couple of different brands, (they are pretty much all the same in my opinion) for about 5 years. The mediums behave just like a varnish as far as when applied to acrylic paint which can dull some what when dry, if you apply a medium in my opinion the colors become richer. A gloss medium being the shiniest will highlight color more, then satin to matt medium, but in my opinion the richness of color you achieve between the different mediums is minimal. An example would be if you take a non shiny surface and put clear plastic over it, it appears richer, right?. Mediums are a type of liquid plastic essentially that you can paint onto a surface and their main functions when used to seal a work like a varnish are to protect your work from moister, make it easy to clean your work, protecting work from damage,protect work from UV so it does not fade and of course for me to use in different applications for my acrylic painting which are numinous. I would just make some tests up and muck around with it Just a tip here in Australia it gets pretty hot, the cooler the room the easier it is to deal with when sealing work, this stuff drys pretty quick even when watered down half and half with water. Happy creating.
Putting the item in a cardboard box is genius! I will do that with my shoes from now on when I spray shoe protector on them!
Thank you for tackling this subject! Here are some thoughts from my own experience:
1.I agree that acrylic gloss offers the strongest protection. I use a paint sprayer to apply, so no streaks or smudges! I use an inexpensive industrial sprayer off of Amazon with a small compressor.
2. You can spray acrylic matte or satin medium on top of the dried gloss layer to gain the matte/satin finish.
3. As you say, the sealer is just that, a layer on top of an unstable oil base. Therefore even the gloss layer can be torn away, so still be gentle! Doing so it will last a long time and can be wiped with a damp rag to remove dust and grime
Thanks again. 👍
Thanks for the tips :o)
So the acyrlic gloss gel is good over oil pastels? I want to use canvas and I have found it works very well but wasn't sure of long term effects and was concerned about using it on pieces to sell
To varnish watercolors, I use a a gloss spray varnish, 3 - 4 coats. Then I use a matte spray varnish on top, two coats. The reason I use the matte second is: 1) matte sprays and matte mediums have a tendency to make a picture milky., and 2) Ggoss coats bring out the colors. So, when I apply the matte spray on top of the gloss, I already have sharp colors. This might work for oil pastels (appyl gloss first, then go over the gloss with matte).
Finally, I found that the very best result for oil pastels is to use Epoxy Resin. I got amazing results with it :o) (I made a video on the whole process...) Have a great week ahead!
@@SyndiaArt Thank you, Syndia. I just found your channel this weekend. I loved your amazing crayon portrait of Liv Tyler. I also love oil pastels but hate the costs of framing. I am going to find your epoxy video!
@@LynnePriceStudio Here is my resin full process and test piece ua-cam.com/video/XwkHYWhtXM4/v-deo.html And in this next one, at around 0:59 I varnish my Madonna portrait. Resin was a revelation :)
I love this video so much! And your art piece here is so gorgeous!!! I’ve watched it several time! I wish I could find more tutorials on whimsical, oil pastel art, like this❤❤❤.
Probably overkill, but this is my approach. A quick spray of the good fixative. Just to hold the oil pastels in place. Then a quick coat of the gloss medium. Once that dries, top it off with matte medium to reduce the gloss. What I worry about is what will happen over time. It makes me reticent to use my oil pastels even though I love them. On top of everything else, framing with glass is expensive, heavy, and hard to ship.
What brand of matte medium do you use?
Liquitex
@@SyndiaArt thank you!
I work in apn aet store. You can use Satin Gel Medium if you dont want it to be glossy or go over the gell with an acrylic varnish. Id use Satin Medium or Satin Topcoat. You can maybe use the sennelier fixative then an acrylic top coat
So helpful! I want to try using the liquitex gloss gel and see if I can paint over my painting following the original strokes to keep the texture and movement. Gonna do some experiment on it, thank you for the information and inspiration!
thank you for sharing. I also have seen artists preserve works with glossy gel. The reason to use spray is if you are willing to redo your painting. to add something or reuse the surface. framing is pretty expensive part of finished work)
I have used gloss medium and then minwax polycrylic when I have used oil pastels on a canvas board and it has worked fine, on paper i just use fixative in 3 or 4 thin layers and that seems fine also 💖
I just found out about your channel and I'm watching all your pastel videos. Love you. Keep them up.
So happy you like my videos! Right now i'm in the middle of a 30 day abstract painting challenge but there will be more oil pastels in the future... Have a great weekend!
Hi Syndia, Thank you for a good review video. I guess I'll stick to the spray one and try doing 2nd coat. I do woodworking and for varnishing/oiling woods and in general at least 2 coat is recommended. Thanks again!
Another option is to try the Golden Archival Spray Varnish. It comes in a variety of different finishes. I think the satin finish looks and performs the best. The matte finish stays tacky for a longer period of time, so it's best to let it dry overnight before handling the painting. The Golden Archival Spray Varnish in particular offers full UV protection, so you don't have to frame your painting under glass.
Another option is to use the Krylon Matte Finish Varnish, which works pretty great (but no real UV protection). I let it dry for a few hours before I start handling the painting again. Both of these work better than Sennelier's fixative, in my experience.
If you're purchasing in the UK, you can grab the Golden varnish at Jacksonsart.com and the Krylon at utrechtart.com
I use these on my watercolors. Satin and matte can look milky, so I apply gloss first (3 - 4 layers), and then add two layers of matte varnish. Works great to keep the integrity of the chalky look of watercolor.
Thanks for a quick and informative video 😀 I'd give this a go this on my sketchbook paintings that are experiments.
Larger full invested pieces I stick to just using glassine 🙈 not even fixative. Personal preference as I'm using highest lightfast rated oil pastels and are not super smudgy (Caran d'Ache Neopastels)
I love how they seem to set after a few days depending on the type of paper used. Toothy paper = more "drying"/setting in time.
I mark the position of the glassine to the artwork so when I handle it it goes back the same way I take it out.
I love your experiments 💃 the resin one is intriguing!
Would allowing the Sennelier pastels to dry for a couple of months perhaps help the fixative to work better since it is very close to an oil painting?
Try using the matt finish over top of the gloss finish. A couple of coats should cancel the gloss out
If you're interested I did more testing here ua-cam.com/video/bogsziEnrPw/v-deo.html
🎈💛💚💙🧡💜 Watch my latest OIL PASTEL VARNISH tests here 🎈💛💚💙🧡💜 ua-cam.com/video/q9uHotd_MdQ/v-deo.html
I was going to suggest varnish or varnish spray.
Thank you for sharing. I'm painting a fairly big painting on canvas 1m square and I've been using mostly acrylics but have used floetrol and sprays of silicone in places!! I've then painted over parts (grasses and reeds) in sennelier oil pastels -- so quite a mix going on :) and I'm not sure how to fix and varnish as I've got areas that aren't oil pastels. I've got the sennelier fixative so was thinking of just spraying where I have the grasses but it will also hit the acrylic paint and then was thinking about varnishing the whole of the canvas - I want the work to be satin finished so was thinking about liquitex satin varnish over the whole painting -- have you tried that at all? or the high gloss gel medium (could you mix that with a satin do you think)? I don't want to frame under glass and I was hoping to have the piece for sale as well !!! Thanks so much and very nice to find you - I have subscribed :)
Never tried that. Liquitex has a matte Gel and I know that the gloss gel was the one that sealed oil pastel the most in this testing. If I were you I would try the matte gel on a scrap piece of paper over a thick later of oil pastel and see how it dries. If it's conclusive I would put the matte gel only on the oil pastel sections to seal it before varnishing.
thanks so much for your quick reply -- I'll do a trial and I'll let you know how it all goes.
Please do! I'm curious :)
Thank you. Maybe mix the gloss and matte medium to lessen the gloss. Also curious about putting more layers of Sennelier spray.
Have you tried cold wax? It dries hard and is more matte.
I saw it and it seems interesting but I haven't tried it :o)
What about the fat over lean rule? The oil pastel are oil content. Gels are acrylic which is oil based. Could it cracks overtime.
Its exactly the information i needed. Thumbs up!
Awesome, thank you!
Hello there! 😊
Quick question.... if I were to use the gloss gel on a sketchbook... ¿would the pages stick together? 🤔
Gloss on gloss yes but I don't think paper would stick to gloss
Hey, Thanks for this video. I was wondering if using a matt finish over the glass liquids finish will help with the glare a little? or would it ruin the artwork? Thanks xx
I actually never tried putting matte on top of glossy... You can give it a try on a test paper, I'm pretty sure it would work :o)
Hi, interesting vid. I've stayed away from oil pastels due to the datum "they never dry". Recently found YT guy-Rich Alan Bass-his solution is to let the work dry for a week or more then to use the Sennelier fixativ. He works with several types of oil pastels and from what Ive seen he uses the harder (less oil) pastels and builds up, with the creamier ones (like Sennelier) last-fat over lean principle... do have a look thru his vids, I think you will enjoy.
Thanks for sharing!
thanks this was very helpful. I am going to use the Matte Gel Medium to see if that will reduce the glossy shine.
Let me know how it goes! I'm going to make a video soon comparing both but I haven't tried it yet!
I sure will I should be doing that today on one of my paintings. I also don't think the brush detail left in your video from using the gel can also work to add texture and character. I do a lot of abstract brush strokes when doing oil and acrylic paintings and I love the details of them. So I plan to use that little issue as a benefit. I can saw someone use mod podge as a sealer as well, just a thought if you want to try it for your next video. and thanks again for the response.
what about fixative spray then liquitex gloss gel then matte spray 3 layers
In my last vlogs I tried more things but nothing really works... unfortunately. My next step is to try resin :)
VERY USEFUL±! I will try this!!
can you kill the shine from gloss gel using matt varnish spray?
I've never tried it but it's a good idea!
Yes, you can. Apply gloss first to make the colors sharp, then the matte.
What about using hair spray or a hair gel as a sealant? Those fixative sprays can get super expensive, and I’m wondering if those would be an option for those of us who are broke.
I think hairspray wouldn't be tough enough for oil pastels, might work for chalk pastel but not oil pastels I don't think :o(
Hairspray yellows over time
I was wondering about mixed media painting on canvas. I painted mostly acrylic on my painting but added a little oil pastel in 1 section. Should I spray that section with oil pastel fixative and then varnish over the entire piece? 🤔
just the spray should be enough I think
Which varnish you have used plz tell me
Hej ! Did you put the actylic varnish on pastel ? would it work on soft pastel ? thanks
For soft pastel I would use a spray specifically made for that.
Hi! Can you put a coat of matte medium over the gloss?
yes you can
Did you have good results with the resin? Or any other product?
I plan to try it in September and make a video about it :o)
This was so helpful
is it the Acrylic Gloss Gel by Liquitex that you talk about? Don't understand how the acrylic base would go over oil paint. Can you be specific about the gloss gel please
sorry oil pastel not oil paint
Nothing that I've tried or read about actually seals oil pastels... The spay is just a flimsy layer of protection. Acrylic Gel is better than the oil pastel spray (more scratch resistant, although you're not technically supposed to put acrylic on an oil base). Anyhoo... here are my latest varnish tests if you're curious: ua-cam.com/video/bogsziEnrPw/v-deo.html
liquitex also has a matte gel.
How about soft pastels please? Here in Egypt, most artists use soft pastels from only two brands called Mary’s and Faber-Castell and we were unable to find a useful spray for fixing the material to the paper.
Very helpful. I love your blog!
I'm so glad you found it helpful!
The acrylic gel gloss will adhere to the oil pastels?
Yes it does :)
But how about using pastels on CANVAS, you cant put canvas under glass
Can you use Sennelier Fixative for Oil Pastels on an acrylic painting? The art stores are all closed now so I can't go out and buy something else?
hum, good question. I have no idea... But I feel like fixative on acrylic paint isn't 100% necessary. Is it a mixed media piece?
@@SyndiaArt Hi it's just acrylic.
@@grandma.p In that case, I wouldn't varnish it. I don't always varnish my paintings :o)
@@SyndiaArt Thanks, good tip. Should I frame it with or without glass?
I'd say without glass :o)
What tape did you use? That green one?
It's called painter's tape, it's less sticky than beige masking tape.
isnt acrylic over oil over time going to slough off...oil pastels contain OIL...acrylic over oil??
Thank you
Nice tip!! Thanks
Glad it helped! :o)
Maybe one or two coats of Sennelier Fixative, then Gloss Gel over that...?
I found my favorite way to do it with this :o) ua-cam.com/video/q9uHotd_MdQ/v-deo.html
I have been using frames, but if there is a way to protect our oil pastel painting.. i woulf like to use it instead..
I'm still testing, so far nothing is permanent... my next step is to try resin :)
@@SyndiaArt Loved your video and I'm so curious - have you tried the resin test yet?
@@lisamcgovernboldgoldie I did and it works really well. I made a video about it documenting the process but I privated it just because I find resin to be tricky (toxic) to work with and although the result is amazingly beautiful I don't feel comfortable recommending it on my channel. I used ''Art Resin''. If ever you try it I would say to make sure to open all windows, wear gloves, protective glasses, a mask and leave the painting to dry in a separate closed room of your house where you won't breath in the fumes all day. Not to sound dramatic, lots of professional artists use resin, but I'm just super extra careful with these things. I don't use oil paints because you need solvents so I'm a big baby when it comes to that stuff. Hope it helps. Sending you tons of inspiration :o)
Gel medium would eventually Crack and separate wouldn't it?
probably, yes.
That was my question - do oil pastels ever dry?
They harden but they stay "stretchable" hence, varnish.
try to mix half glossy half the other
Can I use mod podge?
Not really... but watch this, it will answer all your questions. ua-cam.com/video/XwkHYWhtXM4/v-deo.html
weird the oil pastel doesn't smudge when u put the gel medium :o
I tested that further and gel medium doesn't set 100%. If you scratch hard enough you can actually peel it off! :( My next step is to try resin.
How about Mod Podge?
same result as matte medium...
I'm so broke I use hairspray😣
Anyone Try PVA Glue.
Non yellowing
There is Varnish for Oil Pastels by Talents.
Your cute...
why not use a matt gel instead of the gloss gel so it isn't glossy. would you get the same protection with the matt gel as with the gloss gel? could you test the matt gel against the gloss gel? I have seen one video using matte medium/varnish. will link below maybe you could compare the 3 for best results. love your work!!ua-cam.com/video/_DPFhB7nrPM/v-deo.html
Matte Gel doesn't work. I tested it in my last vlog that I posted on Monday.