How Do You Frame And Store Pastels?
How can I go about this? Well, you may ask, I can tell you this may not be very easy to achieve. Pastels are smudgy paints! You will find they pick up dirt specks and the paints are actually quite fragile.
Therefore it is quite hard to protect your work. Pastels can be harmful in fact, as the pigment in them is quite loose. You need to be careful not to inhale from the specks of these dust pigments.
I personally never use newspaper to store them as the print and the acids in these could really ruin your work. It is probably best to cover your work with tracing paper, which you can buy at good suppliers, that is acid free.
Now you can obtain boards which are acid free, so if you intend to try and store your picture for a long time then I would attach it to a board using masking tape and cover it with tracing paper or even greaseproof paper or tissue. Just remember to strap it down with a tape of some sort.
When you reach the framing stage, decisions have to be made. At this point you may decide you would like to change it somewhat. Maybe you think it is improved with less sides for instance or even all the way round.
Even a few inches can sometimes make the difference. A good way to decide upon this, is to have a frame made of card which you can look through at different angles. This way you often may decide to go with less in the frame.
Pastel does not work next to glass. If you do this you will have both condensation and find dark spots or patches on your work. To remedy this for framing, your painting would need a mat of cardboard on top to separate it from the glass.
If you frame it with the mat no problems should occur in the years to come, even without fixing it. This does not mean that you cannot fix it! Spray it with an aerosol by all means, but be careful not to inhale some of the strong fumes.
I cannot stress enough how dangerous these fumes can be to your health. Care is needed when spraying. Take your work outside if the weather will allow it. Failing this, fling open all your windows, if you must do it inside.
What you really need to do is to buy a plastic mask which will cover your nose and your mouth for this. Particularly if you suffer from allergies, as pastels collect dust and are also quite messy.
After all, you are likely to get a stuffy, blocked up nose, if you room has very little air. This is just a little bit of advice, but an important one. Be aware of your hands, pastels are messy, so give them a good wash when you take your breaks.