Sennelier’s D’Artigny Oil Pastel Fixative (and i made a whoopsie)

So originally this post was going to be about how I’m starting to feel that Sennelier’s D’Artigny Oil Pastel Fixative is not really worth the cost at $24 a can.

It isn’t exactly bad, but I’d say it gives your artwork an “ultra matte” look regardless of the oil pastel you use (I use Sennelier and Sakura Specialist). This ultra matte look, I think, de-emphasizes most artistic styles. So I question paying $24 a can for a product that only looks good on a small fraction of my work… you see what I’m saying?

The post was originally supposed to be about how dang expensive Sennelier’s oil pastel fixative is.

The only artwork I think Sennelier’s oil pastel fixative worked well on were my pussy pastels (yonic eyes).

Wear a mask. The smell is kind of disturbing when you think about. Here are all of these dangerous chemicals in a can… and they smell sweet.

My eye is fine. Thank you glasses.

But then… disaster struck! While spraying one of my pieces a sudden gust of wind in the wrong direction blew a nice cloud right back into my face.

Now this is exactly why you need to take safety precautions.

Wear a mask and eye protection. If I hadn’t been wearing glasses, my eye would’ve gotten a full misting of vinyl resin carried in a cloud of alcohol. Instead, my glasses got most and my eye got a little fleck which I rinsed out promptly. No harm done.

Even if you don’t believe that inhaling copious amounts of xylene and ethylbenzene (both are present in Sennelier’s oil pastel fixative) are dangerous to your health, I don’t think you can possibly believe getting vinyl resin in your eye is acceptable.

So please, even though it’s annoying, take the bunches of little steps necessary to use these fixatives and spray paints safely.