colored pencil question

Ravenswing

hi guys--

I'm not very familiar with the after care... How should you treat the drawings afterwards??


raven
 

celticnoodle

I think there is a spray you can purchase in any art store that you would spray over it to seal it. You'd have to spray it thoroughly and then make sure it dried before touching the drawing again.

so, if you're doing 78 cards--you may want to do them in stages--or you'll have cards all over the place drying. :)
 

cardlady22

http://www.borgesonstudio.com/TechniqueQA.htm

scroll down to this one:
"Q. What is the best way to store unframed colored pencil drawings? I spray all my drawings with a fixative. Is it harmful to store them in the sheet protectors of a presentation portfolio?"
 

The 78th Fool

I'm a full time artist and I've also worked in the artwork preparation department of one of the UK's leading framing specialists where I handled and prepared for framing original works by David Hockney, Damian Hirst and Claire Shenstone amongst others. I learned quite a few tricks regarding storage and conservation during my time there and as a result I try to avoid fixatives.

Regardless of what they say about them being colourless, they can leave spray marks, discolouring the image slightly and leaving an annoyingly blotchy texture which varies from media to media. I've found they cause the worst damage on soft pastels. I'm also wary of the pH value of some of these fixatives - will they cause discolouration over time as they slowly react with the acid content of the paper or with the colour pigments in your media of choice?

Ultimately, there's no substitute for careful handling and storage. Store your finished images between sheets of tissue paper and only handle them at the edges. If necessary, wear gloves when handling your images, like the ones they ask you to wear in libraries when handling old manuscripts.

Portfolio sheet protectors are ok but the transparent pvc/plastic ones can be static charged which can also bring the surface off your image, albeit negligibly. Once again, tissue paper over the image before it goes in the protector is good.


Chris. xx
 

Feretian

Oops! I didn't read the first post clearly...I assumed you were making colored pencil tarot cards...I've a one-track mind lately!

I take it back...don't spray your drawings- 78th Fool knows the score!
 

Ravenswing

Thank you Chris for the info--and reassurance. It seems that I've been doing the right thing all along. I leave about an inch around so nothing runs to the edges, then I've been taping tracing paper atop them.


fly well
4l's
raven
 

The 78th Fool

I'm always a bit paranoid on the subject of fixatives! :D
I ruined a prize piece of work in pastels when I was nineteen. I remember standing there waiting for the spray marks to dry out and the colours to recover. It was the sheer feeling of horror when I finally realised the image was dry and no, the colours weren't going to recover!! I couldn't bear to think of anyone being similarly traumatised over prized Tarot artwork being damaged - they would have to bring me back round with smelling salts! Lol.

Chris. xxx
 

Hannafate

I use prisamcolor all the time.

I did a hand drawn deck of Tarot cards over twenty years ago, using markers and prismacolor. I sprayed them with krylon at the time. I have used them a lot over the years, and they have worn quite well. The edges have browned from handling, but the images are still bright and clear.

For prismacolor artwork though, I use no fixative. Places I have used the pencils heavily may "bloom" after a while, caused by changes of temperature. This is a whitish haze that rises to the surface of the drawing. I wipe it off with a soft cloth.

Otherwise, the drawings I have stored in stacks on shelves, or in portfolios seem to be doing fine. Like any other medium, you want to keep handling to a minimum. When you frame them, make sure the glass is NOT right up against the surface. Use a mat or spacers.

Do NOT shrink wrap them. If you want to simply wrap one on a firm backing, use fomeboard, (it doesn't have to acid free unless you have one for the ages, regular fomeboard is more inert than most drawing papers) and wrap in acetate. You can even get acetate bags with peel and stick flaps at http://clearbags.com/
 

celticnoodle

Feretian said:
Oops! I didn't read the first post clearly...I assumed you were making colored pencil tarot cards...I've a one-track mind lately!

I take it back...don't spray your drawings- 78th Fool knows the score!
yes i thought the same thing--after all it IS posted in tarot deck creation.