How should you varnish colored pencil art? Is there a right way and wrong way?
In another post, I shared three professional reasons to consider using fixative or varnish on your colored pencil artwork and three reasons not to.
If you’ve read that post and decided to varnish your work, the next logical question is which type and brand to use. There are so many on the market. How do you choose?
Fixative and Varnish: What’s the Difference?
Before we go further, though, let me take a moment to define terms.
“Fixative” and “varnish” are often used interchangeably, but they are not necessarily the same thing.
Workable fixative is only a temporary “fix”. It’s a light coating you use as part of the drawing process. Workable fixative sprays are generally applied lightly between layers of color. The purpose is seal previous work and restore tooth.
Final fixatives and varnish are both final coatings designed to protect art from environmental dirt, UV, and—to some extent—rough handling. They are applied more thickly. But there is a difference.
Varnish is not designed to be used as part of the drawing process. It can easily saturate and discolor the paper and darken both the paper and the colors already on the paper. It may also make the surface too slick for further work. Final fixatives, especially those made for dry media, are not as likely to discolor paper.
Another term frequently used for varnishes is final finish. Not all final finishes are useful for colored pencil work. Those produced for oil paintings contain damar varnish, which can be harmful to paper. When purchasing final finishes, make sure to check the contents label. If it lists damar, leave it on the shelf.
So You Want to Varnish Colored Pencil Art: What Should You Use?
John Ursillo uses workable fixative throughout his drawing process and varnishes finished pieces when he works on canvas (yes, canvas for colored pencils). John says:
I use intermediate layers of workable fixative along with solvent-enhanced CP and water-based CP. The finished piece is coated with two layers of Krylon Archival Series UV protective gloss acrylic spray. There are other brands but I’ve not tried them–happy with the Krylon. This goes on very shiny but after a week or so the coating dries completely into the weave of the canvas resulting in a pleasing semi-gloss coating.
The net result is that these colored pencil drawings on canvas can be framed without glass.
For works on paper, he uses workable fixative before adding the final color, then gives the finished drawing an additional coat of workable fixative.
When I use workable fixative, it’s usually late in the drawing process, when I need to restore a little tooth in order to finish the drawing. I have Krylon Workable Fixatif on my shelf. It’s good for controlling wax bloom and for working over.
There are a number of good workable and final fixatives on the market. Dick Blick is a good place to look if you haven’t yet chosen a favorite.
Best Practices for Using Varnish or Fixative on Colored Pencil Art
Look for a fixative made for colored pencils. If you can’t find that, one made for dry media. Avoid varnishes and fixatives made for oil paintings.
Since each brand of fixative or varnish comes with instructions for use, check those instructions first. Follow them, too, in order to get the best results.
How I Use Fixative
First, I work in a well-ventilated area. In the summer, I work outside if it’s not too windy. In the winter, I work in a small upstairs bathroom with good ventilation.
I position the artwork in an upright position. It doesn’t have to be perfectly vertical, but it shouldn’t be flat, either. I like to clip my work to a rigid support using binder clips. It’s a good idea to have some kind of drop cloth behind your artwork to avoid over spray.
Before applying the fixative, I shake the can a few times to properly mix the contents.
As I apply the spray, I hold the can in a vertical position about twelve inches from the artwork (check the instructions on the can for the ideal distance, as there may be some variation). I move the spray across the artwork horizontally in a slow, steady movement.
To make sure I coat all of the artwork, I start just past the edge of the drawing and spray across the drawing to just past the opposite edge. Then I spray in the opposite direction until all of the drawing, top to bottom, is covered.
Let the artwork dry for a minimum of 30 minutes. Personally, I prefer to err on the side of caution and usually wait 45 minutes or longer.
Give the drawing another coat (optional), following the same process described above.
Two or three coats should be sufficient. Just make sure you don’t soak the paper. When a heavy coat of fixative dries, it could become brittle, making it necessary ship unframed art flat, instead of rolled.
The Bottom Line
What it all comes down to is finding the best product for the type of work you do and the results you want. Generally, starting with a brand known for high quality in other products is the best place to start. Grumbacher and Krylon, for example. Products produced by or for companies that also make colored pencils is also a good idea. I can’t guarantee you’ll like Prismacolor workable fixative as well as you like Prismacolor colored pencils, but there’s a better chance the fixative will work favorably with the pencils.
Whenever you try something new, test it first. Use scrap paper or a drawing that isn’t important. That way, you won’t care if the experiment doesn’t work.
Talking to other artists about what they use and why they use it is another excellent way to find a good product.
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What would you recommend, if anything, for a mixed media drawing/painting with colored pencil and acrylic paint? Thanks.
Robert,
A good question!
I’ve never combined colored pencils with acrylics, but I know it can be done. The only thing you really need to remember is to do all the acrylic work first, then the colored pencil.
You’re going to want a support that’s heavy enough to stand up to the paint, though. Something like a watercolor paper (probably 300lb.), a panel, or a canvas. You might be able to do a limited amount of work with acrylic on Stonehenge or Canson Mi-Tientes, but do a test sample first. Illustration board might also be suitable.
It really depends on how you plan to use each of the mediums. If you want to use the colored pencil only for detailing an acrylic painting, then work on a painting surface (canvas, etc.) Your choices are a little more varied if you’re planning to use the acrylics only for toning the surface or for small areas or light applications.
I hope that helps. As I said, I’ve yet to combine those two mediums.
Carrie
Thanks so much Carrie. I’m experimenting with airbrushed acrylic background with colored pencil subject. I’ve seen some videos on YouTube with others doing the same. I’m also wondering how you would fix/lacquer such a drawing/painting.
You’re welcome. I’d begin by trying whatever paper the artists you’re watching are using, then experiment with others if the technique works for you.
Ok, I’m a little confused. If fixative and varnish aren’t the same thing then why have examples of fixative used rather than just recommended varnishes. They seemed to be used interchangeably in the article with a varnish brand only mentioned once. The rest are fixatives. Am I missing something?? Help!
Sonya,
Fixatives can be used just like a varnish. You can finish a drawing with a coat of fixative so long as the fixative is a permanent fixative.
However, you cannot use a varnish just like a fixative during the drawing process.
In other words, a fixative can be used to “fix” a layer of color, then be worked over AND it can be used as a final fix once the drawing is finished.
Varnish should be used only after the drawing is complete.
I don’t recommend any specific final varnishes, because I don’t usually use any sort of spray on finished drawings, so I have no personal experiences upon which to base a recommendation. The best I can do is recommend that you use products designed for colored pencil art, and that provides UV protection.
I hope that clears things up!
Oh yes, that helps immensely. TY!
Excellent and you’re welcome.
I use faber castell polichromos pencils on wood. What would you recommend for that?
Kristi,
You won’t need to varnish colored pencil on wood, but if you want to, any type of final fixative designed for colored pencil should work.
Just follow standard practices by applying the final fixative in light layers and letting it completely dry between layers.
Carrie
Thanks for the advice. I am also wondering about the wood surface should i be coating it with a polycrylic coating before i use the pencils? Or leave it raw? When i oil paint i do coat it curious if its the same.
Is there really no non-aerosol method. I would really appreciate suggestions. The spray can’t be healthy and the waste of the cans….
The only non-aerosol varnish I know of is liquid varnish, which you brush onto a painting after it’s dried. However, that is made for oil paintings and probably wouldn’t perform well with colored pencil artwork.
Hi. I’ve used coloured pencil on plywood. Not an expert at all. What would be the best option to protect this? Many thanks
I’m not sure you’d need to protect a colored pencil on wood in any special way.
If you’re wondering about using glass on it, you don’t need to do that. Glass and backboards used in framing are to protect the paper, not the colored pencil. So there’s no need to use glass when framing a colored pencil drawing on plywood. You could frame that just like you might frame an acrylic painting or oil painting.
If you’re talking about a spray fixative, then you could probably use the same type of fixative you’d use on any other colored pencil artwork.
And if you’re talking about something else altogether, let me know and I’ll see if I can get more specific information for you.
very interesting information, never thought about how to preserve my watercolor drawings, now I know that it’s just as important to preserve as the acrylic and oil painting. thanks for all your information, will be putting it to use next time I finish a painting.
Kitty,
You’re quite welcome!
I intend—after a break of several years—to take up art again. If I make a small coloured pencil still life on cartridge drawing paper and glue the finished drawing to sized MDF or hardboard panel, what would you recommend as a final varnish that would enable me to frame the piece without mounting it?
Tom,
Thank you for your comment, and welcome to the wonderful world of colored pencils.
It’s difficult for me to answer your question specifically because I have no experience with cartridge paper. I’ve heard the term before, but don’t know what it is or how well it works with colored pencil. That means I also don’t know how it would respond to a final fixative of any kind.
I do suggest that you try gluing a blank piece of cartridge paper to MDF before trying it with artwork. That way, if the paper buckles or is otherwise damaged, you haven’t lost the artwork.
In speaking general about fixatives, you should always use a final fixative made for dry media. There are a couple available that I know of.
SpectraFix Spray Fixative is a good choice if you’re worried about toxicity. It’s a casein-based spray fixative made from milk protein. It’s said to be archival and good for use on a wide variety of dry mediums. I’ve never used it, but have corresponded with artists who have and they like it.
Brush & Pencil’s Advanced Colored Pencil Fixative is made specifically for colored pencil artwork. I have used it and it works well. It’s a more traditional fixative in an aerosol can (SpectraFix is in a pump sprayer).
There are quite a few other options, but these two are probably the most often recommended. If you search for dry medium fixatives on Dick Blick’s website, you’ll see all the choices. You can also get similar results searching for the same key phrase on any online art store website.
I’m sorry not to be more helpful, but I hope I’ve provided at least a little bit of information to help you make a decision!
Best wishes and thanks again for your question.
Thank you Carrie. And, you have been helpful. The paper I’ve done my little compositional drawing on is Daler-Rowney Fine Grain Heavyweight (200gsm) Cartridge. Cartridge is simply a heavyweight drawing paper. It’s white, acid free, and the surface resembles, quite closely, Strathmore’s 300 Series Bristol Vellum. A good spray fixative sounds like it’ll do the job.
Kind regards, Tom
Tom,
Thank you for the clarification on cartridge paper and what it is. That’s helpful.
You should be all right using a spray fixative on this type of paper, but I still recommend a test on a scrap of the same type of paper. Better safe than sorry.