My dilemma is that the painting in question has not actually sold, but because it's a holiday small works show, it still may. If so, I'll need to have it ready for transport to the exhibit location and its new owner. But it's a fairly recent painting and not varnished yet. I could technically use Gamvar at this point, but would it be dry if it suddenly sells? Because I used liquin, it already has a fairly even sheen, more sheen than it would if I used Gamvar Matte, but not as much as Gamvar satin. So is sending a non-varnished painting to a new owner OK? If so, what information should I give them about the need to varnish at the 6-month mark? Does the owner generally return the painting to the artist for this varnish and if not who would typically do it? TIA for any thoughts you may have on this! It's something that's puzzled me for a long time.
Varnish on painting sold in online exhibit? Many questions!
- Thread starter AnnieA
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L
Lazarus
You have there the retouch varnish.
start at 3:08
start at 3:08
L
Lazarus
I varnished once the same day i had local exhibition. what a disaster it was.
Hermes2020
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I don't either. With the kind of stuff I make, it would be like dressing Miss Piggy in Balenciaga or Valentino.
This particular painting really needed something to even out the color, as some was glossy and some more matte. But I do generally varnish because of the way varnish saturates the color.
Wouldn't even retouch tend to still be slightly wet until a few days go by - enough to cause a problem if rubbed or touched? For some reason, my paintings always seem to have areas of different gloss, some more, some less. I even stopped using earth colors to try to avoid it. Actually, now I've started using liquin, so they should have a more even gloss going forward.
BTW, here is the painting in question. The reference was a found photo, a polaroid that had developed an overall pink tint with age.
Thanks, Ayin. I haven't used matte in the past, but as I think about it, it might work for this particular painting. But how much drying time before application does it require? (presuming a fairly flat application of paint, no impasto). I've sometimes used Krylon QuickDry, which creates a satiny look. However, I hesitate to use it because I don't know what's in it and because the spray has a very chemical smell with fumes that don't dissipate quickly. There are strong warnings on the can not to breathe it in.
Also, do you know what happened to the image I posted above? Did I do something wrong? Should I try again?
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Artyczar
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I never saw an image there. Yes, post it again. It's not there. 
You must spray those varnishes outside (when the air is not breezy). Yes, the fumes are not good for you, but they won't kill you, just do not ever spray those things indoors. And wear a mask. I always try to hold my breath too, and step away right after I spray the coats. It will dissipate quickly, but the smell will stay on the painting for a bit, so maybe keep it outside for a little while, or in the garage or something. This is what I do. I don't bring it into the house until the end of the day or the next day to be safe.
The coats will dry very fast. I only do a couple coats--very very thin coats. You never want it to drip. They should be even coats, about 10-12 inches away from the painting. It's a quick process. You can gently touch the surface to see if the coat has dried before applying a new one. It doesn't take much time for that stuff to dry.
You need to wait until the painting is more than surface dry. Oil paint never really dries through and through, but if it's not impasto, you don't need to worry about the under layers of it. Just make sure it's dry. If you can touch it and the paint no longer smudges, it's well on its way!
You must spray those varnishes outside (when the air is not breezy). Yes, the fumes are not good for you, but they won't kill you, just do not ever spray those things indoors. And wear a mask. I always try to hold my breath too, and step away right after I spray the coats. It will dissipate quickly, but the smell will stay on the painting for a bit, so maybe keep it outside for a little while, or in the garage or something. This is what I do. I don't bring it into the house until the end of the day or the next day to be safe.
The coats will dry very fast. I only do a couple coats--very very thin coats. You never want it to drip. They should be even coats, about 10-12 inches away from the painting. It's a quick process. You can gently touch the surface to see if the coat has dried before applying a new one. It doesn't take much time for that stuff to dry.
You need to wait until the painting is more than surface dry. Oil paint never really dries through and through, but if it's not impasto, you don't need to worry about the under layers of it. Just make sure it's dry. If you can touch it and the paint no longer smudges, it's well on its way!
L
Lazarus
Remind me when i first told to spray a a painting i did. "go outside" so i went and it was easy and helpful. but then come the wind and.........
I never saw an image there. Yes, post it again. It's not there.
You must spray those varnishes outside (when the air is not breezy). Yes, the fumes are not good for you, but they won't kill you, just do not ever spray those things indoors. And wear a mask. I always try to hold my breath too, and step away right after I spray the coats. It will dissipate quickly, but the smell will stay on the painting for a bit, so maybe keep it outside for a little while, or in the garage or something. This is what I do. I don't bring it into the house until the end of the day or the next day to be safe.
The coats will dry very fast. I only do a couple coats--very very thin coats. You never want it to drip. They should be even coats, about 10-12 inches away from the painting. It's a quick process. You can gently touch the surface to see if the coat has dried before applying a new one. It doesn't take much time for that stuff to dry.
You need to wait until the painting is more than surface dry. Oil paint never really dries through and through, but if it's not impasto, you don't need to worry about the under layers of it. Just make sure it's dry. If you can touch it and the paint no longer smudges, it's well on its way!
OK...so there's the image again.
Thanks, Aiyn! Yes, that's pretty much how I've learned to apply varnish. But here in the PNW, it's so wet so much of the time that I'm tending not to use spray varnish much, because the moisture interferes with application, and I can't leave a painting outside. Instead I use Gamblin's Gamvar, which is a brush-on product. According to Gamblin, it can be applied as soon as the painting is touch dry (some other experts, such as George O'Hanlon of Natural Pigments, say otherwise, but he does tend to be conservative). Gamvar is a pretty good product, but it is important that the painting be touch dry.
The other product I mentioned, Krylon Quick Dry, is a completely different thing. It's not a varnish, but instead a product that accelerates drying time. A painting still has to be (at least close to) touch dry for application or else there's a risk of the paint developing fuzzy edges. But unlike spray varnish, which dissipates quickly as you note, it doesn't dissipate quickly at all! I found this out when I removed my mask too soon, and another time when the wind brought the spray back at me. It's nasty, toxic smelling stuff that shouldn't ever be breathed. OTOH, it can help you get a just barely dried painting to an exhibit, and is especially useful when there is a bit of impasto involved.
These days, when I use any spray product like these, I take the piece into my bedroom, lock my cat outside and place a towel at the crack below the door so fumes stay in the bedroom, put on my half-mask respirator, and only then spray.
For a just completed painting that's been given a coat of either some type of varnish - retouch spray or Gamvar - or Krylon Quick Dry, I've noticed that there's a tendency for the initially somewhat glossy surface to become more matte with time. I'm concerned that the new owner will see this as some sort of flaw. Do most artists typically provide new owners of their works with directions on future varnishing? I've always wondered about this.
Artyczar
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Beautiful painting Annie!
I have never given any directions to collectors of my art on varnishing my work, in fact, I would never do that. I just tell them to dust it with some soft thing, like a feather duster of something. And I do not varnish my oil paintings, like I said. Maybe someone else can give some advice for you if you really want to varnish it. I understand the thing about the moisture outside. I used to live by the ocean and it was very muggy all the time and did a lot of my spray fixative (on my paper pieces) in the garage.
I have never given any directions to collectors of my art on varnishing my work, in fact, I would never do that. I just tell them to dust it with some soft thing, like a feather duster of something. And I do not varnish my oil paintings, like I said. Maybe someone else can give some advice for you if you really want to varnish it. I understand the thing about the moisture outside. I used to live by the ocean and it was very muggy all the time and did a lot of my spray fixative (on my paper pieces) in the garage.
