What spray other than a fixative (darkens the colors) can i use to protect a pastel painting on canvas?

I've done the hairspray thing, be careful It can come out spotty and make the pastel darker anyway don't use it. Use a very light touch to the fixitive and then carefully set it behind glass in a frame with a matte so the surface of your pastel does not touch the glass. Fixitive alone will not totally seal. if someone walks by a bare pastel on a wall it will still transfer.keep it hung away from sunlight and the colors should stay vibrant

Oh please don't use hairspray... it's NOT pure laquer - but a mixture of water-soluble varnish, alcohol and water! If anything is going to ruin a pastel painting, it's hairspray! It also yellows far more than fixative. First of all, soft pastels are water-soluble - they are made only of powdered pigment and gum arabic, just like watercolour paint! - and should be framed behind glass for this very reason. Fixative only holds down some of the surface particles and doesn't go down into the layers - one or two light coats is all that's recommended - and it is NOT a final varnish. Anything you spray onto pastel will dissolve the gum binder and make it transparent, thus causing the drawing to appear darker. And if you spray enough, of course it will run. Sorry, but soft pastel was never intended to be used on canvas. A spray varnish will give pretty much the same results as the fixative. Your only option is to frame this work behind glass.

I've heard that hair spray works just as well on pastels ... you may want to do a test run.

my lovely and talented wife uses hairspray on her works as a fixative i don't use pastels, but on my work that i need to coat with something i use waterclear mat krylon, haven't noticed any darkening with my patinas on copper, to speak of.

Frame with a glass without adding fixative. Make sure the glass doesn't touch the paper.

Hi: I've heard from Albert Handell, a master and very well known pastellist, that he uses Lascaux Pastel Fixative. Check out the Dakota Pastel site or Jerry's Artarama for it. I've heard it doesn't really alter the colors much. When you spray it over your pastels, hold the surface of the pastel up vertically, and hold the spray can at least 2-3 feet away. Use broad strokes well past one side to the next to cover the surface. It really pays to practice this technique. Be sure also to check out the wonderful artist online community wetcanvas. There are currently more than 112,000 worldwide members, and a pastel chanel has many excellent members that routinely post a lot of helpful information such as this. Basic membership is completely free, and you can browse many areas as a guest. Hope this helps.

Hi, Fixative will always change the pastel's appearance. How it changes it will depend upon how much you apply and how you apply. Good brands : Lascaux and Latour (Sennelier). Pastel should be framed under glass - there are ways of framing without glass and protecting from smudging but will change the pastel's appearance. Using just a fixative won't prevent from smudging, so glass is a must. Mind that fixative (good one) will give an U.V. protection. I work with pastels. You may take a look at my site. I guess it's on my profile. Like said before, some artists don't use fixative, or use it on previous layers. Kind regards, José