Home › Forums › Explore Media › Pastels › Soft Pastel Talk › When You Have Overworked a Pastel Painting
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February 28, 2012 at 4:28 pm #989402
Hi me again.
I have overworked an area of a pastel painting and it is not accepting the chalk with ease any more. I have sprayed it with workable fixative but that has not helped much. I fear I may have erased the area too much. It is a mouth on a portrait……and I was wanting perfection and wasn’t getting it……….any ideas how to bring back some tooth or something to help pastel adhere……or have I gone over the edge as I fear?
Thanks!
EmmajiFebruary 28, 2012 at 5:17 pm #1156587What kind of paper are you working on?
JenC & c's always welcome
February 28, 2012 at 7:04 pm #1156585Like Jen mentioned, it would help us help you if we knew the type of paper and which brand of pastels you are working with. Easy fix on sanded papers, a bit trickier, but possible on something like Canson Mi-Tientes.
February 29, 2012 at 1:18 pm #1156590I am working on Canson M-T on the textured side with Derwent pastel pencils and doing fine detail…………
BTW, can you use workable fixative too often? I have sprayed this area a couple times now…….February 29, 2012 at 5:01 pm #1156588Sometimes if you make a mistake it is better to lift off the pastel gently with a kneaded eracer or soft paintbrush rather than spraying and going over. Just touch gently with the kneaded eracer and lift go to a clean patch and repeat until you have removed what you want.you can go over again on top of spray but Canson doesn’t have much tooth. I don’t use Canson so cannot help more that that.
JenC & c's always welcome
February 29, 2012 at 5:32 pm #1156586Emmaji- I find it easier to fix a mistake without using fixative on Canson. Depending on the fixative, you may have “sealed” the pigment in and it will be difficult to remove the misake. But for future reference if an eraser won’t lift all you want, the next step might be to use a stiff bristle brush like an oil painting brush to remove pigment. I’ve even taken a small piece of very fine grit sandpaper to sand the surface of Canson to bring back the tooth of the paper.
In this case, you might try a softer pastel on top. I’m not sure how soft Derwent’s are, but they are likely harder than pastel sticks. I do find pastel pencil harder to remove than pastel stick pigment, probably because they are harder and get “worked” deeper into the paper than softer pastel sticks. Do you have any pastel sticks you could try to use to cover what you already have down?
February 29, 2012 at 5:42 pm #1156580Softer pastel on top sounds like the best trick – especially if you have some Terry Ludwigs, their square shape allows fine details with the corners. Or if you have Senneliers breaking a stick can give a sharp edge for details. Softer pastels are the one thing that’ll work in that situation.
Robert A. Sloan, proud member of the Oil Pastel Society
Site owner, artist and writer of http://www.explore-oil-pastels-with-robert-sloan.com
blogs: Rob's Art Lessons and Rob's Daily PaintingMarch 3, 2012 at 10:21 pm #1156593Get a Chamois cloth from your automotive store…the kind used to dry your car with after a car wash. You can use it to pull off pastel from an overworked pastel painting.
March 3, 2012 at 11:52 pm #1156582Get a Chamois cloth from your automotive store…the kind used to dry your car with after a car wash. You can use it to pull off pastel from an overworked pastel painting.
This does work really well, but only if you haven’t used fixative on it. The fixative does make it much more difficult to remove the pastel. If you’ve used fixative, the only other thing I could suggest is to either lightly sand the area with a fine sandpaper, or even try a straight edge razor. Hold the razor flat against the paper and try to gently scrape off the area. That might remove the fixed pastel a bit. These types of repairs come with a certain amount of risk, as you are sort of manhandling the paper a bit. But, if you are unhappy with the painting anyway and are not going to frame it or sell it unless you can change it, and feel that it’s worth the risk to give it a try, then I would suggest giving it a whirl. If nothing else, you will learn something!
Chris - WetCanvas Guide, Pastel Forum
March 5, 2012 at 6:57 pm #1156589What about trying a “tack cloth”? You can get them at the hardware store and they are sticky so they might help lift the pastel away if you rub very gently. Not sure if it would work, but maybe it’s worth a try.
Or…Robert’s just given you an excellent excuse to buy some Terry Ludwig pastels!
Jason
Jason
"Truth is the most valuable thing we have. Therefore, I believe we should be economical with it." —Mark Twain
http://www.WalcottFineArt.comMarch 6, 2012 at 10:41 pm #1156594I had to join up just to reply to this… Please! Don’t attempt to use a tack cloth, it has oil and you will end up with a grease spot. Instead, if your paper is firmly taped to a sort of board, a drawing board or Gatorboard, lay it flat on a table and proceed as follows. Gather up some plain baking soda, likely a spoonful or two, a sheet or two of cheap typing paper, and a soft brush, like a mid size paintbrush. Put a small amount of baking soda on the mistake, working flat, and rub it into the paper, gently but thoroughly. The granules will break down the film of fixative and swoosh away the pastel. Then sweep the dirty soda onto a sheet of paper and see how you like the result. You can repeat two or three times. Try to keep the mess contained, and work tidy. Use a bit less soda if a small spot, or more if it is big and heavily pigmented. Good luck. I have used this many time to pick up mistakes when erasing just won’t do it.
March 6, 2012 at 11:20 pm #1156583I had to join up just to reply to this… Please! Don’t attempt to use a tack cloth, it has oil and you will end up with a grease spot. Instead, if your paper is firmly taped to a sort of board, a drawing board or Gatorboard, lay it flat on a table and proceed as follows. Gather up some plain baking soda, likely a spoonful or two, a sheet or two of cheap typing paper, and a soft brush, like a mid size paintbrush. Put a small amount of baking soda on the mistake, working flat, and rub it into the paper, gently but thoroughly. The granules will break down the film of fixative and swoosh away the pastel. Then sweep the dirty soda onto a sheet of paper and see how you like the result. You can repeat two or three times. Try to keep the mess contained, and work tidy. Use a bit less soda if a small spot, or more if it is big and heavily pigmented. Good luck. I have used this many time to pick up mistakes when erasing just won’t do it.
Now that is a technique I’ve never heard of. Thanks so much for sharing it, I will be saving this just in case. :thumbsup:
Chris - WetCanvas Guide, Pastel Forum
March 21, 2012 at 8:31 pm #1156591Thanks again for all the great responses…………I am always amazed at the help I receive here and am trying out the various ideas. The chamois is a real help…..
I also find those soft cloths that have been around for a few years and say that they clean without soap to be a real help…….
And using Robert’s soft pastel over the harder one only makes sense……it’s slowly falling into place…..
Thanks!
March 25, 2012 at 1:49 pm #1156592Thanks for all the above responses! Very helpful, indeed.
I did solve this particular problem by putting very soft pastel over the mistake…….and it did the trick.
Now I have a variety of ways to improve a painting depending on the nature of the problem……thanks!March 25, 2012 at 3:09 pm #1156584Microfiber cloth, it is great for wiping fingers too.
The baking soda trick is out there somewhere, Chris. I’ve tried it, and it is amazing how well it works, the dust just adheres to it, comes off clean, doesn’t cover margins as brushing off does. Come to think of it, I should publish my test with it, in the near future.
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