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Smelly varnish?
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Message
Posted
An odd question from an art group. Someone complains that when she varnishes her oil paintings, they smell like "poop" (she's American: so coy). The varnish she uses is Winsor & Newton's but she doesn't specify which one; and she varnishes when the painting is "at least 3 months old", which is way too soon. However, the paint should have cured sufficiently by then not to smell - and if it did, I doubt it'd smell of ordure...
I suppose no one here has had this kind of problem? I know that acrylics in pots can "go off", as they're water based and water goes rancid (I wonder if she's using water-miscible oil.... never thought of that) but I've never heard of this problem before, so could only advise ditching the varnish and trying another. But if anyone here knows better?
Posted
I don't know about poop, :-), but Gamvar varnish from Gamblin does not smell at all (I almost broke my wrists by trying to open this damn thing! Press and turn!) and what is beautiful (!) you can varnish your oil painting already when the paint is touch dry and firm. So it would be around after 3-8 weeks, depending on the thickness of the paint.
For oils, it would be great because usually, you should wait until your painting is cured before varnishing, which means around 6 months or longer - that's awful long time.
However, I don't know when the Gamvar varnished painting is cured properly. Probably not faster than with another varnish. Does anyone know it?
Posted
I have NO faith in Gamvar's claim that its product can be used when the paint is touch dry and firm - what they seem to have done is develop an intermediate between retouch varnish, and regular varnish. The trouble with that is that we've no idea how it might fare in the long term - there's no test yet which can truly replicate the passage of time and its effects on oil paint. Gamblin is a reputable company, and they have their own paint chemists, but I remain totally unconvinced by their claims for Gamvar, and others, very experienced painters - not that this always means as much as you'd hope it does! - agree with me.
Posted
I use it Robert. It works, although, as you say, the longevity of it is questionable. Thing is, we are doomed to the old fashioned way of painting if we don’t accept change.
I tend to look at products pessimistically, and trust on my own research. Micheal Harding, Windsor and Newton, etc…
Of course the storage of your artwork would make a difference, as does if hanging on a wall in a damp house. Even the hard board behind your picture could bleed through whatever the climate.
Posted
I have used their cold wax product on oil paintings that are dry but nowhere near 6 months old.
I must confess to being reasonably happy with the results to date, no issues whatsoever. Put it on with a lint free cloth, leave and then buff off.
I paint fairly thinly, so we aren’t talking van Gough impasto style… but I think it’s still better to wait until 6 months are up if you’re able to.
Posted
Cold wax isn't varnish, of course .... it's still permeable, so I'd have no problems with using that before 6 months are up; though I wouldn't be in any hurry to employ it.. There was a product call Mattwax - I think Daler Rowney made it, though haven't seen it for years. I have a painting - though it's acrylic - here still, painted in 1988 or thereabouts, on which it was used. And it does enhance it; but I don't seem to have used it on any oils... which is - not a very helpful anecdote, now I come to think about it!
"Change", Martin, is something to which I respond with considerable care - a change which caused my pictures to bubble and crack, or just fall off the canvas, is not one I'd welcome: I doubt that Gamvar would do that ... it has been tested in the laboratory, even if it hasn't yet proved itself over a long period of time; after all, if it did, Gamblin could face severe reputational damage; but there have been several complaints about it ... it's always hard to tell whether those are justified, or result from careless application, climatic conditions, storage... any of a hundred reasons. But on principle, I won't be using it: it's just a risk too far when there are alternatives available.
I do realize that people want their pictures to be presentable as soon as possible; and think that varnishing not only protects but enhances them (not everyone agrees, some never varnish). But I think that's just part of the whole process, and one that oil painters should probably just accept. Too much hurry spoils your curry, or something .... (I've been listening to an Aussie comedian named Sam Campbell.... these little aphorisms can be blamed on him.)
Posted
Gambia is good, as long as it feels dry. I’m talking about all of the painting. Even with slight wetness, it takes the paint off the surface, spreading it as if a glaze.
I think the problems some artists have, is they perhaps need to be dictated to… someone to unintentionally blame. I suppose it might be easier to leave your painting for six months and do it the tried and tested way
Edited
by Martin Shaw