How do you preserve sketchbook drawings?

To protect your pencil drawings from smudging, spray them with a fixative to create a barrier between the graphite and anything that might come in contact with it. If your drawings are in a sketchbook, you can also put wax paper, frames, or page protectors between the pages to prevent smudging.

How can I protect my drawings without fixative?

If you are interested in storing your drawings without a fixative, you can place the picture between two pieces of glassine interleaving paper. Glassine interleaving paper is an acid-free translucent paper that is ideal for protecting and storing delicate artwork like graphite, charcoal, colored pencils, and pastels.

Does Hairspray protect pencil drawings?

Hairspray can be useful even outside the beauty parlor. Though professional art fixatives are always a better option, hairspray works in a pinch to protect your pencil drawings from erasing and smudges.

How do you keep pencil drawings?

The following are some of the easy and effective ways you can try.

1. Protect it With a Fixative Spray.
2. Use Glassine Interleaving Paper.
3. Use Parchment or Wax Paper as Page Inserts.
4. Frame your Pencil Drawing.
5. Lay your Pencil Artwork Flat.

How long do pencil drawings last?

Graphite has a maximum lightfast rating that prevents it from fading when exposed to light overtime. With a maximum lightfast rating, pencil drawings are expected to last for more than 100 years. That said, it’s important to protect pencil drawings from other harms, such as smudging. Graphite is composed of carbon.

Do pencil drawings need fixative?

Fixative can be used to build workable layers of pastel in the drawing process but not as a final coat. Pencil doesn’t need a fixative. Graphite will not fade. And there is precious little written about storing your drawings safely either, so let’s find out.

Do pencil drawings fade?

How do you make a pencil not smear?

So how does an artist avoid the smudging headache?

1. Let your dominant hand lead. Simply put, if you are right-handed, start your drawing at the upper left corner and move your way down to the lower right corner.
2. Place a sheet of clean paper under your drawing hand.
3. Use a mahl stick.
4. Use a spray fixative.