Since I started including chalk pastels and colored pencils into my mixed media journey I have been in the market for a fixative. In my sketchbook I used some very inexpensive hairspray. For me this hearkens back to high school and the use of AquaNet to fix my drawings. We ONLY used fancy fixative outside and rarely. Likely due to cost.
Anyway, I picked up a small travel sized can of hairspray, but I used most of it up in just a few drawings. Hairspray will yellow over time but it is very effective and gentle on my wallet.
When that can was almost out I headed to my only remaining art supply store that is close- Michael’s. Here I searched for the fixative. Their website said they had 6 cans of it in stock. It wasn’t shelved where it should have been. It ended up being on the wrong side of the aisle. Anyway, Krylon Workable Fixative is about $17 a can at Michael’s but I got mine with a coupon and a reward voucher. So my can was about $6 with tax and everything. Nifty.
The can is standard spray paint can sized and not travel friendly> I attempted the old school graffiti refill a deoderant can trick, but i could not get the fixative into the hairspray can. Annoying but I also realized that I don’t want to be out in nature and smell nasty toxic fixative.
I finally purchased some SpectraFix. It’s been on my radar as a nontoxic (or less toxic depending on how you mix it) and nonaerosol fixative. there are several versions of this> I purchased their continuous spray bottle and a small bottle of concentrate.
The 2 ounce bottle of concentrate mixed with one 16 ounce bottle of alcohol. What sort of alcohol? They suggest something like Everclear or other grain alcohol. This is the most nontoxic* it gets. You can use any alcohol. I chose to use 70% ethyl alcohol from CVS. FWIW Ethyl Alcohol at CVS is essentially 140 proof grain alcohol with a bitterant added to it. Also non toxic but has a higher amount of water compared to Everclear.
Ethyl alcohol seems to be hard to find here in Massachusetts. It is impossible to find it at a higher than 70% content. I suspect this is due to our blue laws. Also Everclear is illegal in many states. I can’t even buy ethyl alcohol stove fuel in my state. That’s a whole other post.
Anyway, I used ethyl but if you can’t find it easily you can use isopropyl but it won’t be nontoxic, just mildly toxic.
Anyway. It’s not at all cheap. But more on that later.
I spent about $20 on the continuous spray bottle and another $12 on the concentrate. I think the ethyl alcohol at CVS was around $4. There is a spray bottle that they offer but it is generally regarded as a steaming pile of hot garbage.
I mixed my concentrate directly into my ethyl alcohol bottle after decanting enough to make room. I did notice that there was a little bit of particles in my concentrate. In the future I will strain mine with a fine mesh.
After it is mixed with the alcohol it’s good to use. I put mine into a small mist sprayer I swiped out of a travel kit. The sprayer was for facial toner.
In use, I have better results or less of a learning curve with the small toner sprayer than I have with the continuous mist sprayer. I think in part I know how to use the little mini sprayer a lot better. This makes it easier. It puts out a super fine mist and I press the sprayer and it’s one the paper. With the continuous mist sprayer I have to hold the bottle at least 18 inches from the paper and keep it moving. I have repeatedly put on too much from the continuous sprayer.
Eventually the continuous sprayer will feel like a usual thing to me but for now I struggle to get an even coat and the right amount. I also feel that I tend to over use and over spray with it, I’m wasting product because I don’t know how to use it yet.
I think the continuous sprayer will feel better with larger pastel pieces or other larger works.
How does it work? With one coat you get a workable coating you can still with effort remove some of the pastels or graphite. While it won’t smudge as much some will blend with another layer. With a second layer this is further reduced. With 3 layers it doesn’t move.
It does darken the pastels quite a bit. I have noticed that with pastels from cheaper brands the whites tend to disappear. This is an interesting phenomenon where the chalk filler melts into the fixative. With whites that are a higher quality, the white returns at a similar tonal value to what it was.
I have some white chalk pastels I used to add in highlights, and the color disappeared! The white was gone. The cheaper the pastel the more likely it is to disappear with fixative.
After 2 coats you can add in more layers of media and then add another coat or two of fixative.
Anyway, heavy layers of fixative cause the pastels and other media to run and bloom a lot like watercolors. Heavy layers can take a long time to dry. It’s key to do thin even layers and add more once it dries.
I have grown to really like the SpectraFix Fixative- both the concentrate and the continuous spray bottle. They work and work well, once you get the hang of how to use and apply them. Three even coats keeps a matte finish and keeps everything from moving around, even in my sketchbooks. It claims to be good for a whole bunch of materials, I have not tested this yet but will.
There is a DIY option to create the concentrate and when it is time for me to make it I’ll definitely report back on how well it works or doesn’t work.
I found the best price through Jerry’s Art-a-rama. It is not sold by Amazon but on Amazon through Jerry’s and Blick. You are better off cutting off amazon and going directly to their sites since you will pay for shipping even if you have prime. You will also have shipping options which you won’t have at Amazon.
*If you have been foolish enough to do a shot of Everclear it feels like it will kill you or you will wish you were dead. The burn lasts seemingly forever. I don’t know how we got our hands on Everclear when I was in college- it’s always been illegal to sell in Maine.