Willing Heart

Good morning eP Nation!
I was extremely excited when eclectic Paperie announced the arrival of PanPastels.  I was first introduced to  PanPastels while taking an encaustic art class with Suze Weinberg.  I knew that these wonderful pastels were highly pigmented and look awesome over waxed project, and sometimes I would swipe a sponge of color over my card to “smudge” the edges and or background.  Of course this was long before I ever got into the mixed media.
When I received my PanPastel – Exploring Mixed Media Sets, I immediately turned to Donna Downey’s video tutorial which is included in the mixed media sets.    I’m a “Just Do It” kind of girl, probably because I tend to over analyze at times.   So I decided to follow the video tutorial while playing with these yummy PanPastels. 
I pulled out an old 16x24 canvas and  followed right along:

For a first attempt, not too bad.  However, I think my mind set of "go big, or go home" needs to be curbed a bit, lo.   Following the video,  I realized that I did not have tissue paper large enough to completely cover my canvas and still create the wrinkles.  If you look closely, you can see where the separation line is.  The sentiment was generated on my computer, printed onto copy paper and glued onto the canvas.  To create a little more depth, I used my fingers and the green Faber-Castell Gelatos.

At the time I was working on this canvas, it was extremely cold here in Kansas and using the Krylon Fixative spray would have required me going outside.  So I grabbed three household items to see if these would work as a fixative.  NOTE:  This is a quick solution if you're like me and create late at night or early in the morning and works in a pinch.

No, the vodka is not for me.  Because my husband does miniature models, he uses PanPastels all the time (who knew!) and he said to try alcohol.  I sprayed both the vodka and the rubbing alcohol, the hairspray and had my husband go outside and spray the Krylon on test canvases.  The winner was the hairspray.  Once dried, no pastel came off the canvas.  And I was able to spray it in the house.  So in a pinch, and you are out of a fixative, hairspray works!

As to my finished canvas, it's not as good as Donna's, but I love it.  Not to mention that my family was totally impressed :-).  I hope that you will give PanPastels a try.  I promise you will love them.

Supplies Used:

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