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Varnish
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Posted
I’m an oil painter also, there are a few on here, but mainly watercolour, pen and ink etc, some good pastel artists as well.
I know Robert will have his strong opinion, it’s been discussed many times, but I varnish stuff for exhibition but not generally my other work.
I don’t have any particular reason for that.
Varnish does tend to give the painting a more overall uniform appearance, I used to opt for the matte but have now switched over to the gloss varnish for my exhibition submissions… I think it looks better but there’s no logic behind that!
Some varnish can yellow with age, Damar I think, but I’ll leave that open for discussion as I don’t have any scientific reasoning to support that statement!
Marjorie is a very accomplished oil painter, I’m sure we’d be interested in her view…
Posted
Paintings for exhibition or sale are usually varnished, a minimum of 6 months after painting. Damar does indeed yellow, and is also very difficult to remove - or anyway, more difficult that most others; it's one of the older varnishes, there are more modern ones which are usually better. It does take quite a while for it to yellow.
I tend to use the Winsor & Newton picture varnish, but there are better ones, available, for instance, from Natural Pigments (Europe). The late John McCombs didn't varnish, but put his oils behind glass. That's quite feasible - if there's a rebate to keep the surface of the oil away from the glass. Is varnishing actually necessary? Well.... these days, paintings are less likely to be subjected to tobacco fumes, which is what yellowed a good many of them; varnish protected against that to the extent it got all the dirt, and could be removed. Then, of course, they'd be varnished again. I'm always in two minds about it - but Alan is right of course to say that a coat of varnish will even out the differential glare or sheen of areas of paint. Ultimately, it's a matter of choice; I prefer gloss to matte, some like a satin finish, there are even wax-based varnishes (or were, as it happens I've not seen them about lately - but wax as a protection can last for centuries; snag is, it doesn't really dry so is vulnerable to picking up impurities).
Finally (for now) there is Gamvar, a varnish produced by the US company Gamblin; they claim it can be applied when the painting is touch-dry - but I wouldn't risk it on any painting I were planning to sell, particularly not if heavy impasto was employed.
Alan has painted many more oils than I have, so whatever he suggests is likely to be the way to go!
Posted
Just joining in this. I always do varnish my oil paintings for exactly the reason Robert and Alan outlines - "a coat of varnish will even out the differential glare or sheen of areas of paint" - and also or therefore bring out intensity to the colours used. I use Windsor and Newton Satin varnish which givers a sheen but not high gloss.