Hi Teoh, excellent video as always. I've been using fixatives for my drawings for my whole adult life, and I'd like to add just one comment to your advice. Two or three light coats of fixative are always better than a heavy coat. A heavy coat of fixative is more likely to change the way your sketch looks (especially with pastel, charcoal and pencil drawings) and bleed through to the other side. Light coats give your medium a chance to absorb the chemicals a little at a time and not affect the way your drawing looks, or the drawing on the back side, if they are in a sketchbook.

Love, love, love your accent. The way you say "smudging" made me smile "smerging"

Smurdging! I love it. It's smearing and smudging merged into one word. Genius! Thank you for another educational review. Not only are your reviews informative, but they're enjoyable to watch as well.

Some cheaper fixatives can turn yellow over time, so it's good to check information on the can first.

Thank you for sharing your information, Teoh. It is so much better than trial & error. Very easy to follow. Your work is enjoyable to see, too.

Thanks for the video! Just took the plunge and used workable fixative. Went great.

I hadn't ever thought of using fixative in my sketchbook until I had the deep black transfer over to a facing painting that was very light. It was all watercolor, and I can only imagine the very humid Florida weather caused enough moisture, it created a bit of a problem. I was able to recover the work, and might fix it just to avoid this problem in the future with really light next to dark sketches. Your explanation of how and when to use fixative was very helpful, as all your videos are! Thank you again, Teoh! Great appreciation!

Very glad I found your review here; you have saved me some grief; sorry that some of the fixatives damaged your artwork!

Thank You for the information! We bought an art piece in an online auction that turned out to be an ORIGINAL pencil sketch by a famous cowboy artist! It has a little smudging from poor handling and I didn’t know how to protect it. Just what I needed!!

Thanks for posting this video! It helped me out a lot. It hasn't been until recently that I considered using a fixative for my pencil drawings, and this was a great introduction to the many types available! I had no idea! So again, thanks :) Curious, If I'm using only graphite and colored pencil in my sketches, would you suggest the universal fixative?

Thanks. This was so informative. Just what I needed. You are a Great Artist!!!

Thanks for the informative video. I am a graphite artist and work on bristol board so no bleed thru worries from other types of media.

Great drawings esp. the pen drawings! Thanks for all the info. Testing is the great advice!

Watching this in 2021. Your videos are timeless.

great tips just what i needed, note to self, now stop watching tutorials and start making art ;)

Thank you this was very informative!

SMERGING made me smile too! Love it! OOXXOO Linda

Thank you!! This video helps a ton! I'm glad you mentioned to spray fixative on a test piece of paper, I would have been so upset to have mine break up like that. I have many colored pencils and graphite pencils, as well as graphitint from derwent so once it is a little warmer out (It is only 2 degrees Fahrenheit here) I will be using this. Thank you

I completed a pencil sketch. Now I want to paint it with acrylic paint. Should I spray on a fixative and then paint so the pencil doesn't show through the paint? Thanks Dwight.

Thank you 🙏 love this information ❤️

Art's come a long way today. Many pastel artist back in the day used to use VO5 hairspray. It used to be a lot cheaper than many standard fixative sprays and worked fine. Not sure about VO5 today.

im an olevel student giving art and honestly this was very helpful

Thanks for sharing your mistakes so others can avoid them.

thank you for this!!!

Thanks for the advice! What sketchbook were you using where you made that sketch on? ( 5:06 )

Love your videos man! Very informative keep it up!

Very useful and detailed explanation. Thank you :-)

thank you! this has been a problem of mine

Really helpful! Thank you!!

Hi ! This was super helpful ! But I’m wondering, is there any good fixative for gouache/watercolour ? I’m a widdle worried that the paint would reactivate but my paintings are smudging in my sketchbook ,,,

I have the same fixative!! you can still work o. the drawing after you work on the drawing.

thank you very much teoh

Very helpful....please make a comment about fixative for mixed media (crayon, acrylic, intense and graphite)

Hi, I work in Pen & Ink...usually Microns, Uni & Staedtler fine liners on acid-free papers. I was wondering if it is needed to use fixative over my drawings to save them from dust rather than fading.

Thank you so much for you effort and information. I am abit confused if you could enlighten me with fixatives. How about using fixative for artwork that uses poster color to prevent colors from fading?

Hi Teoh, quick question. Im using a primer (mostly for acrylic painting) on models and found that gel pens are good for detailed work. I generally use acrylic varnish to seal the colour in (and give gloss) but found that the gel pen ink smudges/smears. What fixative would you think can I use to lock the gel ink in, or alternatively, whats a good primer that will keep the gel ink colours on the models? Thanks

Here's one. From Bic ball point pens to archival ink, there appears at times an inconsistency between dried areas and new ink. It's horrendous and very noticeable. Same pen. Same ink. Shade in one half of a dark area. Come back a day later and pick up where you left off, and bam! There appears a purple-ish or satin blotch showing your new ink over the old ink, Workable fixative is the only solution I have found for this as recoating the entire area in fresh ink has ZERO effect on the blotch.

i have a question, i do acrylic portraits and sometimes I like to add soft pastel to my art what can do to seal it...this is done on staple back canvas

even though you don't have to worry about watercolors smerging 😉, would the spray-fix help to keep colors from fading if you have a piece displayed somewhere and not just in a sketchbook? Wasn't sure if that was what the whole UV thing was about, love your videos btw.👍

Can I ask what you recommend for protecting drawings I made with different permanent markers, such as Sharpie, Razor, Micron ones too,. I find that after hanging my black and white finished ones on the wall with tak removable gum , after a month they start to darken, getting yellow too at times,..we smoke in here too so that's of course additive. I tried laminating with some roll I got in the supermarket, but 1 mistake and my week's drawing is messed up, as it's not easy to laminate bigger size drawings. + they look even if I managed to do it without folds in it, kinda ugly and cheap now. So could I use a spray like you showed, and prevent this,? Or any other useful cheaper methods out there? TY Great Channel BTW.

There may be an easier way to protect the watercolors and maybe pencilsketches (I haven't tried that with pencil sketches to be honest). I use wax for that, a cheap version would be something like Ranger Distress Glaze, that you just rub onto the painting or drawing. It makes it waterproof and has still a matte finish. I used it for watercolor postcards and it worked fine.

Great info.

Hi Teoh, if I plan to just get my pencil/graphite drawing into a frame (acrylic top, not glass) immediately, then I don't need to use fixative, right? Or will the acrylic sheet affect the graphite and cause some smudging?

Hi Mr. Thank you for your video on how to preserve artwork! What is the full name of the spray that I could use for colored pencil portraits??

Cheers mate!

Great advise!

have you ever tried cold wax for oil painters? what are your thoughts?

High quality video! 😆😆😆

I want to know which brands you used with your damaged sketches?

Would the schmicke pastel fixative be to harsh to save a drawing on a canvas to oil paint over? Its all the art store had but i may order something else. After watching this im thing the Krylon workable surface is the right option.

How if fix in coloring art using watercolor pensil, colored pensil or oil pencil with a more layers colors Thank you

thank you, most informative

Thanks for this! I'm new to using fixative. Do you know if pieces completed in marker need fixative?

Any idea if these sprays are good for strathmore 400 drawing paper? I tested the grumcher matte fixative on sketching paper and it caused my graphite to have downward streaks but I suspect its because it was on sketching paper.

Fixative for gouache please!!

if I use a workable fixative does that mess up acrylic paint I want to use fixative on my adult coloring books I use colored pencils all the time but I do want to start using acrylic paint for background and I don't know if a fixative would mess that up can you answer that question for me thank you

hi, just want to ask, is fixative waterproof? or let say the drawing got wet, will it keep the drawing safe withouht damaging if its coated with fixative?

Hi! If I have both pastel and acrylic paint on paper/canvas, shall I use a fixative first and apply liquid acrylic varnish on top?

is there any particular brand that you would recommend or just any brand is fine ? and also does fixative reduce the graphite shine?

Could you use a fixative on a watercolour mural that has been painted on a bedroom wall?....

Hello Teoh. I've made a sketch in which the main and central figure was drawn with pencil and some lines with sailor permanent black. The rest of the sketch was painted with watercolor. I want to fixate the main figure. What kind of fixative would you use, fixative for pencil or for watercolor?would a pencil fixative damage the watercolor? Thank you

can you paint on top of the workable fixative if using inkjet canvas?

Do these fixatives protect artwork against fading due to exposure to light? If not, what would you recommend?

how you protect your drawing paper from yellowing. i keep mine inside the pages of book in a cool place, would that be alright?

very helpful, thank you

Hi Teoh, I got the Krylon UV resistant gallery series clear gloss fixative. I am less than 18 and would not be spraying the spray, but. after reading the writing on the back, I do not want my loved ones to get brain problems or anything. How do you spray the spray without endangering yourself? Also, I got it on Amazon, and it did not say anywhere that the product was so toxic and I cannot return it. I am so sad that I have to tell my mom that she threw $10 in the trash can.

Do you only use fixative for graphite, charcoal, pastel and alike? Or you can use it for paint as added protection?

Hi, have you tried the Schmincke Pastell Fixative on your water-colour? For UV protection? Does it dissolve or smudge? Thanks.

can i use the mod podge clear acrylic spray as a fixative for water based markers?

Can i still use workable fixative on my piece of art from using mixed media of graphite, charcoal and sharpie markers without ruining my artwork? If not what other measures do I use to protect it?

Can you fixativ on acrylic paint? I’m doing something with mixed media, .charcoal pencil and acrylic paint on wood. Thanks

Hey! Thanks for this amazing video!! I used it for once in my life and that ruined one of my soft pastel painting 😞😞😞 the spray blew up some colors and Also for the water in it, some colors mixed up automatically! Is there any other way to use it without any problems? Please give me a solution! If you want, you can check out my channel! I also make some art tutorial. Please give me some suggestions. Thank you!!

Thank you

Are those type of fixatives good for shoes ? Or foldable material in general

thank you

Q: i have some artwork drawn on ballpoint pen on my sketch pad... is it advisable to use fixative to preserve it? if so, what type of fixatif should i use? its just an ordinary writing ballpen im talking about... t.y.

So what do we use to seal non pigment ink? I’m planning a project and trying to figure out how to waterproof regular fountain pen ink so it won’t bleed everywhere if it gets a bit wet

can I use lacquer clear spray paint as a fixative? I need answers please

Have you tried cold wax medium? I use it on watercolor paintings when I don't have a frame with glass in it.

I did heat embossing calligraphy on a canvas and I found black marks on my calligraphy letters and the canvas also got dirty after a few months I’m confused on what to use Please recommend a good spray to protect heat embossed artwork on canvases

Good information in your video. Wonder about using it on Copics?

can i use spray paint ??🙃

Is there any difference between a fixative and varnish? Can varnish be used on charcoal?

Can I spray it over my prismacolor artwork?

Can I spray fixative on canvas? I paint on canvas tote beg using acrylic and poster colour should I use fixative to keep the colour?

I was wondering if this kind of fixatives (for pastels, pencils) can be used to seal alcohol ink painting on Yupo paper ... ?

I have liquid fixative that I got in a gouache set, I have no idea how to use it.

Can you use normal clear spray paint mattle finish that is used for metal & wood?

Can I use krylon uv spray varnish instead? Its for ink and watercolor

So bummed you didn't do a full demo here. I would love to see you revisit this subject and actually show us how you spray the fixative!

how to protect pen & ink drawing

is it advisable to use fixatives in a linen paper printed using an ink jet?

does this remove pencil shine?

i dont know if anyone has experience with this but i have a problem with my fixative. i didnt use it in a while and when i shake and spray the consistency is not like a spray, but just the gluey substance coming out. anyone know what to do?

Does the fixative say works with ink and marker?

Hm so you are recommending these sprays to protect my pencil drawing... I wonder if these are even available and if they work to protect the drawing from fading..

which fixative is good for prismacolor premier colored pencils?

so what's the verdict with ink or pen drawings? no fixative?

Hello hello, I need advice! I am drawing with i k on top of a watercoloured background and rhen gluing it to a canvas thats. Een painted with acrylic. When I use a soray fixative or a matte medium alot of it smudges including the pen. What should I be using so this doesnt happen? Ive ruined two pieces and am discouraged.