Charcoal on Wood Technique

I have always loved working with charcoal, but have never considered using it on a wood panel, as it needs to be framed to protect it from smudging and damage.... or so I thought.

I recently tried out a new way to preserve charcoal images on other surfaces, rather than just paper (though I have yet to try it on canvas).

I always apply picture fixative on the work, which I did here, quite heavily. Once the image was fixed I was able to (very carefully) apply a layer of liquitex acrylic varnish onto the piece.

A little acrylic black paint around the edges to finish it off, and it is ready to hang!