I recently received an email from one of the regulars on this blog, who wrote:
“I have recently started painting in oils again after a long stint with acrylics.
Would you consider a blog topic about how artists approach the need to varnish the finished work (especially when using oils). Do they actually wait the recommended six months to sell a finished work so it can be varnished? Do they use retouch varnish first then the final varnish - or do they even varnish at all?”
What I do: wait as long as I possibly can before varnishing. Sometimes a painting needs to go out to a show or gallery within a few weeks of its completion, but I’ll make sure the surface feels hard-dry everywhere before varnishing. I recently read that it’s better to protect the surface with varnish, even if you’re not waiting months, than not to do so at all.
I don’t use retouch varnish; my understanding is that it’s intended for use on a painting in progress, so that the artist has a similar level of sheen everywhere (no ’sunken’, dry areas).
I do two thin coats of final picture varnish, and I like the spray stuff - no fussy brushes, bubbles, etc.
OK - how about everyone else?
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August 13th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
I also wait as long as I can, but thought that retouch would be ok if the piece had to go out Right Now on the theory that something is better than nothing to give a consistent sheen and some protection.
For a real final varnish, I’ve been doing one coat with a brush using Winsor-Newton gloss picture varnish. Then touching up if I’ve missed a spot.
August 16th, 2009 at 8:44 am
I wax my bronzes ;o)
I just couldn’t stand not seeing more comments :o)
Is that a double negative?
August 17th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Christy, I…uh…hmm. (double negatives…my brain hurts…). I didn’t know sculptors waxed bronzes - good info!
Susan, I’m way too impatient to do the brush thing - or maybe scared, given all the caveats I’ve heard about how perfectly you must do it, and don’t brush back over a spot, and don’t get any hairs or dust or spiders or dog fur in the varnish, etc.
One thing I forgot from the first post is to make sure the varnish you use can be removed, if need be (operating on the hubristic notion that someone might actually want to conserve one of my paintings a hundred years from now).
August 17th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Why would you want to remove the varnish? While I don’t think I will start painting I have started collecting some at art shows and am interested in the care of paintings.
One of my favorite things about shows is all the trading that goes on between artists especially on the last day.
August 17th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
While I’m not an expert on this, I’ll drop my two cents in. I’ve seen artists do a lot of things that made me go “hmmm”.
I know a couple of artists who dont wait at all. They varnish as soon as the paint is dry enough to press on. I know others who dont varnish at all and just tell the client that it will need to be done. I’ve seen some that put on a coat of Liquin once the paint is touchable. The theory, I suppose, is that it dries quickly and adds a little protection while bringing the colors back to original vibrance. I’m an in-betweener, I suppose. I have done the Liquin thing (not anytime recently), but I’m afraid it will yellow over time.
This is kind of a segue to Christy’s question about removing varnish. Over time, some varnishes will yellow and/or darken. When this happens, as I understand it, the only option is to remove the old varnish and redo.
I used to use the same WN varnish that Susan mentioned, but changed last year to Gamblin’s Gamvar. No real reason, other than it was handy and I hadnt tried it before. It was developed by “conservation scientists at the National Gallery”, for use in refurbishing antique paintings. I figure, if it’s good enough for them, it should be good enough for my clientele. Guess we’ll see in a hundred years or so.
August 17th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
I guess maybe I’m comfortable using a brush from working in the sign trade for quite a few years back in the mid 1970s to early 1980s. I had to be able to coat out a 4′x8′ panel using One-Shot sign enamel with a two inch brush and “no runs, no drips, no errors”. Even if we used a roller, it still had to be feathered out smoothly with a brush so no roller marks showed.
August 17th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
So Susan, you are waaaayyyyyy ahead of me in brush/roller use then - no wonder you’re OK with brush-on varnish! Maybe I oughta try a wildlife painting with a roller on a big panel…hmmm…..
Don, your answer is what I’ve always understood - some varnishes yellow over time. Also, some paintings are rendered shmoodged by environmental effects and need the varnish stripped and paint restored - think of some of the work that’s been happening on Da Vinci’s paintings, among others.
August 18th, 2009 at 8:11 am
Like Don, I use the Gamblin Gamvar varnish. I brush it on with one coat. It’s pretty glossy so one coat is plenty for me. I’ve read that it’s ok to varnish it on as long as the surface is dry to the touch, so I have not waited 6 months.
According to Gamblin’s website, it does not yellow with age and while waiting 3 -6 months is best, painters using Gamvar can safely varnish sooner because Gamvar’s mild solvent will not dissolve the glaze layers of paintings and paintings today dry quicker.
August 18th, 2009 at 8:47 am
Hmmm, food for thought here…
August 18th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
This thread also reminded me of something that John Carlson talked about in his book, but I had never seen until recently. I’d done a painting about two years ago now, and let a friend hang it in her office. When I got it back the colors had turned really dull, as though something had grayed them. I kept thinking that I’d painted it brighter and it really bothered me. Then I was re-reading the Guide to Landscape Painting and Carlson addressed exactly that subject. The solution was so simple, but very effective - hang it in a place with lots of natural light, but not in direct sun. Sure enough, in a few days, the colors were back and according to Carlson, they’ll never dull again.
Man, I love those old painters.
August 18th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
I think the main thing is to have enough practice coating a surface with a brush so that you can put the varnish down and leave it alone. Futzing is fatal.
I am wondering if I should be doing two coats though, instead of just one. Thoughts?
August 18th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Julie, what kind of “spray stuff” do you use?
As for retouch varnish - Winsor-Newton recommends using a retouch varnish IF you cannot wait the full 6 months for a final varnish. Their “thinking” is that a retouch varnish is better than no varnish to protect the surface of the painting. Of course, they may just be trying to sell their product. Their retouch varnish can either be removed before the final varnish is applied - or the final varnish can be done right over the retouch (as long as the painting is kept clean).
I have always varnished my acrylic paintings using a SOFT brush which I found less likely to leave marks - at least on acrylic paintings.
August 19th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Don, makes sense - I’ve always stressed to collectors never to hang artwork in direct sunlight. Hadn’t heard of dull colors re-brightening…bizarre!
Susan, I’d bet brushing the single coat on is thicker than my two spray coats. I’m not crazy about ‘obvious’ varnish on paintings; similar gloss over the whole surface is enough for me.
Marti, I’m using W&N final picture varnish spray stuff. I’m intrigued by the Gamvar that Kelly and Don mentioned. May have to try that. Some of what scares is me is that brushes shed, period. I’ve never had one that didn’t - even a good gesso brush - and I can’t stand the idea of picking hairs out of a varnish coat.