Spraying graphite

Hi i just wondered about whether to spray my grahite pencil drawing. Im not sure if it will change the appearance. Thank you for your thoughts :pray:

Hello Mandy @mand , if you use a fixitive, each coat used will slightly darken the drawing. It may be my application, but I have also found it gave my drawings a grainy texture, which will sometimes show up in pfotos of the drawing, depending on lighting and set up.

I would try a sample, similar in style to your finished drawing first. Use same paper type and draw a section with similar style, value, and application to see how fixitive reacts and determine if you can accept the outcome. Also, decision is based on what you are doingv with drawing. Framing immediately behind glass would not require spraying nor would proper storing in a portfolio. Again, that should factor into decision.

Hope this helps some.

Lenet

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Thank you Lenet, that’s so helpful. It’s a present for my sister in law so I think I’ll just frame it then it will be protected. It’s of a her cat so a precious gift to get right x

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My soft pastels hydrangeas turned hazy and grainy after spraying with fixative. I probably didn’t shake the can long enough and got too close to drawing while spraying. And the huge splatter drops made it all worse.
I’ve used fixative many times before but this was just a bad spraying.
All this to say that fixative can ruin a drawing of not careful.

Sonia

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I did it myself and it changed the color. But yo never know. Maybe with a fixative it may not.