Caring For Your Original Soft Pastel Painting & Framing Tips

Hello and welcome,

When I sell my unframed original pastel paintings, I always include a pastel care sheet with framing tips to help make the framing process a positive experience.  I will also share the care sheet with you here.

In this video, I will help empower you to navigate how to care for your finished original pastel painting, and I will also give some framing tips along the way.

Pastel Care Sheet

For your original soft pastel painting on sanded pastel paper.

I use the best archival materials for its creation. If properly taken care of, your painting will last for many lifetimes. Pastel is one of the most permanent art mediums in existence. Many pastels painted over 200 years ago are still as bright and fresh as the day they were created.

Your pastel painting may shed a few particles of pigment when new. This is normal and will not damage the image. The surface will become more solid with time, and shedding will stop. Please do not attempt to rub or brush away fallen particles, as you may mar the surface of your pastel. Lightly shake them off and store your unframed pastel flat until framed.

Framing: You will receive your pastel in a custom-made protective sandwich. This is fine for short-term storage, but you should have it framed behind glass to protect and preserve your painting while it is on display.

You want acid-free, archival framing materials.

Do not spray any fixative or coating on your pastel in the framing process or allow your framer to do so. Fixing will change the colors in your pastel, damage the paper or dislodge the pastel particles from the surface. Careful handling is a must. Do not touch the painted surface. Putting fingers or other items on the painting or rubbing or flexing it will damage the surface. Keep it flat, supported from underneath, and facing upwards to protect the pastel surface.

Do not use Plexiglas™ to frame your pastel. Plexiglas™ holds a static charge that may pull pastel particles from the paper and, in time, create a “ghost” image on the underside of the Plexiglas™. This will probably not seriously harm your painting, but it will obscure your view of it.

One promising approach for framing your pastel is to use a reversed double mat with a larger window underneath. This creates a gap behind the mat where fallen particles are invisible. Another is to use a spacer strip between the glass and the painting so that no mat is necessary.

Hanging your pastel

Choose a dry place indoors out of direct sunlight.

I hope you will find this information helpful on your soft pastel journey. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask in the comments below.