just to add the emphasis on use a gloss finish as an iso coat, not matt! I should of stressed that more. gloss is much more transparent than Matt, if you do want a matt finish just simply us a matt varnish after and you get the effect. thanks again guys for watching, hit that thumbs up button and subscribe, I'm working on more tutorials, throw your suggestions in the comments or questions. alex
I've been scouring Google for this info because I want a Matt finish but didn't know if I needed to find a Matt isolation coat or what. Thanks a million for the advice and the video. Do you have any advice for paintings that are a mixture of Matt and metallic paints? Any way to varnish and keep the Matt bits Matt and the metalics shiny?
Thank you a lot! A lot of videos miss the most important part - how long should you wait between layers. I'm a newbie in acrylics and I have a question. How do you take care of that brush after using it? In other words, how to wash it? I have a soap for washing acrylics from brushes - can I use it or better not?
Hey there, you probably have found the answer out by now. I'm active in this channel anymore and check infrequently. You want to wait aa couple of hours between coats. Acrylic dry's very fast and it all depends on temperature, humidity. I mainly just go by feel, when it looks dry, i wait a bit more, give it a feel and put another one on. Wash brushes with soap and water. keep your isolation coat brushes dedicated only for that purpose.
Sylvester, nice video. I have an urgent question. An artist painted a MURAL on my kitchen wall with acrylic paint. The wall should have been sandblasted, it has a raised layer to it called 'eggshell' in the states. No matter, it's done. I don't want a gloss finish. I have found a product called dead flat varnish. After she applies the isolation layer (coat) which is shiny will the dead flat, then REMOVE the shininess of the isolation layer. Ultimately, I want to end up with as little (or no) gloss whatsoever.
Allan Cerf if I understand correctly yes it should. But if I was you, if you hav3 any of the glossy varnish she used paint some on a bit of board and once dry paint the dead matt on top.
What’s a good isolation coat I can use for in between color layers? Same thing? I need something that also lets me write on/over top with pencil or chalk. I’m just getting into canvas buddy so is why the questions.
very sorry. I never saw the comment. did you find the solution? Im not sure, you can use gel mediums in-between color layers to but for chalk, im not sure.
I've had to deliver some acrylic paintings to clients that I did varnish, but neglected to apply an isolation cost to. Are these paintings in danger of being damaged over time? And if I'm on a tight deadline (such as, a painting created live and surrendered on site), do I just leave it to the client to isolate or varnish in the future?
i wouldn't worry too much about it. i finished many paintings in the past without never using one. obviously yes its better withone as the painting has better protection and you could replace the varnish years later if that was needed. honestly after all these years ive never had to.
I tried isolation coat. And I have a big patch in one area where ai might have moved brush while it was almost dry. That created a sticky patch there. Now I don’t know how to fix it. Can you give me some pointer?
dam, that sucks. I feel the frustration, I had this happen to me with varnish at the end of a painting that took 2 months to finish. Did you find a solution? sorry, I'm not active on this channel anymore for now.
Umber, burnt Umber, I have used to make shadows in the passed. depends what the shadows surface is. as normally it will be a darker shade and tone than what the colour would have been given more light.
isolation coat is best to be a gloss finish because its clearer. an isolation coat is just a protective layer before any varnish touches the painting. so yeah, spray or brushing on the varnish, if you want an iso coat, put one on. it is only optional though, many dont put use one, i went years without usings a iso coat.
@@SylvesterFritz thankyou for your response. ... I have the problem of marks smearing even though I have tried to lock them in with fixes and mediums, there are still areas where the marks don't get fixed. So I am going to skip the iso coat when I can. Thanks so much
hey Morris. I can not say for sure. if it is an artist varnish, they are designed to be able to be taken off so painting can be revarnished easier in future. also depending on if your painting is oil or acrylic.
Hello , thank you for this video! very helpful , but my question is , can I use any Medium structure gel gloss for the isolation coat ? Or I need a concert brand of Mediums ?
Yes any good brand should do well, just Google it to make sure it is good quality. Ideally if you can get one that is liquid enough that you can spread it around your canvas without having to dilute it too much is better
@@anamaria-iu7wv you too! Make a little test strip, maybe 20x20 canvas and once you have the medium mixed up try it on that and see how it flows and covers. Can be a real saver.
Is there a difference between using a gloss gel medium and a gloss varnish as the isolation coat? There are people recommending the gel medium and others a gloss varnish for isolating.
Emily Ramirez Hi Emily, yes one is a gel medium and the other a varnish. I would not use a varnish, for one they are designed to be taken off. So if you have a varnish for your iso coat, then a extra varnish for your final layer, then it's just really 2 or 3 coats of varnish, if you had to take it off for some reason the lot would come out and you would touch the painting underneath and risk damage. The iso coat is supposed to act as a barrier like a sheet of glass protecting the art from the varnish on top. The gel medium is basically acrylic paint without any colour added to it.
Hey Sylvester, I just applied an isolation coat for the first time to one of my paintings and even after 2 isolation coats I can still see my brush strokes from the isolation coat. Not sure what I'm doing wrong but I'm afraid to varnish and simply 'hope' that the varnish will even things out. I'm wondering if I should apply a 3rd coat to yet again attempt to even things out. I'm starting to regret the isolation coat honestly. Any suggestions?
Hey mate, did you water down the gel medium enough? if it's a thick medium you will need to water it down so it self levels. if you leave it too thick it will hold itself and make brush marks. How profound are the brush strokes? is it possible to DM me a tweet or Instagram a photo? maybe we can work out a solution. @AlexFritzArt on Twitter & Instagram
@@SylvesterFritz Thanks for the prompt response even though you posted this vid 4 years ago! I'll for sure hit you up on Instagram with a photo and description
nice video man. I notice you didn't use distilled water and you didn't mention any water:gel ratio. are those things relevant or not?. thanks and keep up the good work.
Hey Pablo, ive always mixed by eye and feel, the water isn't important. Normally ill just mix a nice consistency that spreads easily and levels out. It is also possible to buy mediums that are already prepared to the right consistency for using right out the bottle, if your luckily enough to have that available i would buy that as it will have much more polymer in it as your not diluting. I dont have it available so i have to mix up a gel medium polymer which still works very well. just remember to use a gloss.
Sylvester Fritz thanks Silvester, I watched a golden paints video, and they used soft gel, distilled water in a 2:1 ratio. apparently golden has not a special isolation coat product. I just tested soft and heavy gel and both works well just using tap water. thanks for your answer!
Thank you for your advice and the efforts! There were so many valuable hints and I like, that you left that part with the little mixer in the video. ;) I didn't use this so far, but will probably do for the more valuable ones in the future. Do you just use it Also, The Flash looks breathtakingly good!
Lol yeah I was hoping the egg whisk would of been a nice little mixer, but it was pretty pathetic, Lol. I'm going to try and fix an old rc car motor to it, maybe it'll have more power then, haha. thanks, I'm loving the Flash TV show at the moment, can't wait to watch last nights new eps. I've been working in a blending vid, while I was working in this painting but later when I reviewed the footage my big head was in the way... kind if ruined the demonstration. I'm seeing if it is salvagable
for some of my older works I never used a iso coat, I'd never heard of one. I only heard about it once I had a varnishing disaster and almost ruined a painting I'd been working on for about a month :( after some research I learned about this and now I make it routine to put one on,
That looked like a lot of water. It's important to maintain a certain concentration of acrylic emulsion, otherwise there could be bonding issues. Manufacturers typically warn against diluting any acrylic based medium or paint beyond 15-25% water. I would recommend starting with a fluid (or even airbrush) acrylic medium and diluting it less, if at all. Also, thicker mediums and gels tend to have additives that make them slightly less transparent. Get yourself a scrap piece of acrylic plexiglass and paint a swatch of different mediums to see what I mean.
That would be a interesting test regarding the glass, and test to see which medium has the best transparency. I know what you mean with diluting, but I have found that this gel handles the dilution very well and once dried is very solid. If I see some fluid polymer ill defiantly give it ago.
an isolation coat gives the painting a clear see through barrier between your artwork "painting" and the varnish. So it's like a last line of protection. varnish then goes on top but never touches the painting because the iso coat is there. in time if you want to remove the varnish or you make a mistake while applying the varnish which happens more than you might think... you can easily wipe it off with a little gentle solvent without fear of ruining the art work underneath. also varnishes, especially matt, is porous and can dull in years to come or yellow. you can easily again remove the varnish and put a new one without ruining the painting as the varnish is not touching the painting. varnishes made for art use are normally removable for that reason. also that's why a iso coat should be shiny and not a matt finish as a shiny "brilliant" finish is clear like glass where matt is slightly couldy. if you want a matt finish then you just use matt as your varnish after. hope that helps a little.
@@SylvesterFritzfirst of all I want to thank you for taking the time to respond to me, I really appreciate it x so that means I can still sell my art and take pictures after the isolation coat?
@@jackiek3860 your welcome Jackie. Yes, but if I was you I would take the pictures before applying the iso coat or varnish as you will have a lot more shine to deal with when it comes to editing the image for prints. and Sale, for sure, if anything it makes your work even better as you have taken an extra step any don't bother to do. Have a good day :-)
just to add the emphasis on use a gloss finish as an iso coat, not matt! I should of stressed that more. gloss is much more transparent than Matt, if you do want a matt finish just simply us a matt varnish after and you get the effect.
thanks again guys for watching, hit that thumbs up button and subscribe, I'm working on more tutorials, throw your suggestions in the comments or questions.
alex
I've been scouring Google for this info because I want a Matt finish but didn't know if I needed to find a Matt isolation coat or what. Thanks a million for the advice and the video. Do you have any advice for paintings that are a mixture of Matt and metallic paints? Any way to varnish and keep the Matt bits Matt and the metalics shiny?
I just did a huge canvas and am very thankful that I came across this video before I jumped into varnishing!! Thanks, great vid.
brilliant, im glad it helped! tweet me a pic of the canvas, would love to see it @alexfritzart
This video saved me from making so many mistakes and gave me a lot of information so big thanks to you.
Love the painting.
thanks siba, i have to admit, I do too 😅 so I have it in my office... rather than sell it for a crappy price.
nc. ive been waiting for very long time to someone make a tutorial video putting isolation coat on a huge painting. very helpful.
great to hear that you found the tutorial helpful. thanks
Your video is very useful ! Can I use liquidex medium gel-gloss gel ?
Yes, definitely
Thank you a lot! A lot of videos miss the most important part - how long should you wait between layers.
I'm a newbie in acrylics and I have a question. How do you take care of that brush after using it? In other words, how to wash it? I have a soap for washing acrylics from brushes - can I use it or better not?
Hey there, you probably have found the answer out by now. I'm active in this channel anymore and check infrequently. You want to wait aa couple of hours between coats. Acrylic dry's very fast and it all depends on temperature, humidity. I mainly just go by feel, when it looks dry, i wait a bit more, give it a feel and put another one on. Wash brushes with soap and water. keep your isolation coat brushes dedicated only for that purpose.
@@SylvesterFritz Thank you! ☺
Sylvester, nice video.
I have an urgent question. An artist painted a MURAL on my kitchen wall with acrylic paint. The wall should have been sandblasted, it has a raised layer to it called 'eggshell' in the states. No matter, it's done.
I don't want a gloss finish. I have found a product called dead flat varnish. After she applies the isolation layer (coat) which is shiny will the dead flat, then REMOVE the shininess of the isolation layer. Ultimately, I want to end up with as little (or no) gloss whatsoever.
Allan Cerf if I understand correctly yes it should. But if I was you, if you hav3 any of the glossy varnish she used paint some on a bit of board and once dry paint the dead matt on top.
What’s a good isolation coat I can use for in between color layers? Same thing? I need something that also lets me write on/over top with pencil or chalk. I’m just getting into canvas buddy so is why the questions.
very sorry. I never saw the comment. did you find the solution? Im not sure, you can use gel mediums in-between color layers to but for chalk, im not sure.
I've had to deliver some acrylic paintings to clients that I did varnish, but neglected to apply an isolation cost to. Are these paintings in danger of being damaged over time? And if I'm on a tight deadline (such as, a painting created live and surrendered on site), do I just leave it to the client to isolate or varnish in the future?
i wouldn't worry too much about it. i finished many paintings in the past without never using one. obviously yes its better withone as the painting has better protection and you could replace the varnish years later if that was needed. honestly after all these years ive never had to.
Hi - Why are you using a heavy gel gloss, especially when you talk about how heavy it is and need for dilution? Why not just a regular gel gloss?
its all i had available, i could not for the life in me find a regular gel.
I tried isolation coat. And I have a big patch in one area where ai might have moved brush while it was almost dry. That created a sticky patch there. Now I don’t know how to fix it. Can you give me some pointer?
dam, that sucks. I feel the frustration, I had this happen to me with varnish at the end of a painting that took 2 months to finish. Did you find a solution? sorry, I'm not active on this channel anymore for now.
I have a question how do you make a shadow like shadow of trees what do you use to do it
Umber, burnt Umber, I have used to make shadows in the passed. depends what the shadows surface is. as normally it will be a darker shade and tone than what the colour would have been given more light.
do you need an isolation coat when one is using a spray varnish? and does the isolation coat have to be gloss?
isolation coat is best to be a gloss finish because its clearer. an isolation coat is just a protective layer before any varnish touches the painting. so yeah, spray or brushing on the varnish, if you want an iso coat, put one on. it is only optional though, many dont put use one, i went years without usings a iso coat.
@@SylvesterFritz thankyou for your response. ... I have the problem of marks smearing even though I have tried to lock them in with fixes and mediums, there are still areas where the marks don't get fixed. So I am going to skip the iso coat when I can. Thanks so much
Can a spray lacquer be used for an isolation coat?
hey Morris. I can not say for sure. if it is an artist varnish, they are designed to be able to be taken off so painting can be revarnished easier in future. also depending on if your painting is oil or acrylic.
@@SylvesterFritz thanks! It's acrylic.
@@tmmorris33 did you try the spray varnish on a isolation coat yet. I would like to know is it worked out okay 😬
Thanks for a very informative video. Never know I need to do a isolation coat 😬
Thank you.
Hello , thank you for this video! very helpful , but my question is , can I use any Medium structure gel gloss for the isolation coat ? Or I need a concert brand of Mediums ?
Yes any good brand should do well, just Google it to make sure it is good quality. Ideally if you can get one that is liquid enough that you can spread it around your canvas without having to dilute it too much is better
@@SylvesterFritz Oh ,ok ! Thank you so much , have a nice day :)
@@anamaria-iu7wv you too! Make a little test strip, maybe 20x20 canvas and once you have the medium mixed up try it on that and see how it flows and covers. Can be a real saver.
@@SylvesterFritz Okay , I will try :) Thanks again!
Is there a difference between using a gloss gel medium and a gloss varnish as the isolation coat? There are people recommending the gel medium and others a gloss varnish for isolating.
Emily Ramirez Hi Emily, yes one is a gel medium and the other a varnish. I would not use a varnish, for one they are designed to be taken off. So if you have a varnish for your iso coat, then a extra varnish for your final layer, then it's just really 2 or 3 coats of varnish, if you had to take it off for some reason the lot would come out and you would touch the painting underneath and risk damage. The iso coat is supposed to act as a barrier like a sheet of glass protecting the art from the varnish on top. The gel medium is basically acrylic paint without any colour added to it.
We're you looking into a mirror while painting The Flash????
Hey Sylvester, I just applied an isolation coat for the first time to one of my paintings and even after 2 isolation coats I can still see my brush strokes from the isolation coat. Not sure what I'm doing wrong but I'm afraid to varnish and simply 'hope' that the varnish will even things out. I'm wondering if I should apply a 3rd coat to yet again attempt to even things out. I'm starting to regret the isolation coat honestly. Any suggestions?
Hey mate, did you water down the gel medium enough? if it's a thick medium you will need to water it down so it self levels. if you leave it too thick it will hold itself and make brush marks. How profound are the brush strokes? is it possible to DM me a tweet or Instagram a photo? maybe we can work out a solution. @AlexFritzArt on Twitter & Instagram
@@SylvesterFritz Thanks for the prompt response even though you posted this vid 4 years ago! I'll for sure hit you up on Instagram with a photo and description
nice video man. I notice you didn't use distilled water and you didn't mention any water:gel ratio. are those things relevant or not?. thanks and keep up the good work.
Hey Pablo, ive always mixed by eye and feel, the water isn't important. Normally ill just mix a nice consistency that spreads easily and levels out. It is also possible to buy mediums that are already prepared to the right consistency for using right out the bottle, if your luckily enough to have that available i would buy that as it will have much more polymer in it as your not diluting. I dont have it available so i have to mix up a gel medium polymer which still works very well. just remember to use a gloss.
Sylvester Fritz thanks Silvester, I watched a golden paints video, and they used soft gel, distilled water in a 2:1 ratio. apparently golden has not a special isolation coat product. I just tested soft and heavy gel and both works well just using tap water. thanks for your answer!
Golden paints are very good, the soft gel will work fine and not take much diluting. your welcome
Nice! By the way, will the isolation coat enhance the colors of the painting just like the gloss varnish does?
Riddhima Puri yes, important to remember to make sure the gel is a shiny finish not matt.
Yeah, okay. Thank you so much!
Thank you for your advice and the efforts! There were so many valuable hints and I like, that you left that part with the little mixer in the video. ;)
I didn't use this so far, but will probably do for the more valuable ones in the future. Do you just use it
Also, The Flash looks breathtakingly good!
*do you just use it with paintings on canvas or also on paper?
Lol yeah I was hoping the egg whisk would of been a nice little mixer, but it was pretty pathetic, Lol. I'm going to try and fix an old rc car motor to it, maybe it'll have more power then, haha. thanks, I'm loving the Flash TV show at the moment, can't wait to watch last nights new eps. I've been working in a blending vid, while I was working in this painting but later when I reviewed the footage my big head was in the way... kind if ruined the demonstration. I'm seeing if it is salvagable
for some of my older works I never used a iso coat, I'd never heard of one. I only heard about it once I had a varnishing disaster and almost ruined a painting I'd been working on for about a month :( after some research I learned about this and now I make it routine to put one on,
+Anna Konda just for canvas paintings, or masonite. I don't know about on paper, I'd have to look into it.
That looked like a lot of water. It's important to maintain a certain concentration of acrylic emulsion, otherwise there could be bonding issues. Manufacturers typically warn against diluting any acrylic based medium or paint beyond 15-25% water. I would recommend starting with a fluid (or even airbrush) acrylic medium and diluting it less, if at all. Also, thicker mediums and gels tend to have additives that make them slightly less transparent. Get yourself a scrap piece of acrylic plexiglass and paint a swatch of different mediums to see what I mean.
That would be a interesting test regarding the glass, and test to see which medium has the best transparency. I know what you mean with diluting, but I have found that this gel handles the dilution very well and once dried is very solid. If I see some fluid polymer ill defiantly give it ago.
I thought the whole point putting that stuff is so it can look better and to protect it 😕🤔I'm sooooooo confused right now!!
an isolation coat gives the painting a clear see through barrier between your artwork "painting" and the varnish. So it's like a last line of protection. varnish then goes on top but never touches the painting because the iso coat is there. in time if you want to remove the varnish or you make a mistake while applying the varnish which happens more than you might think... you can easily wipe it off with a little gentle solvent without fear of ruining the art work underneath. also varnishes, especially matt, is porous and can dull in years to come or yellow. you can easily again remove the varnish and put a new one without ruining the painting as the varnish is not touching the painting. varnishes made for art use are normally removable for that reason. also that's why a iso coat should be shiny and not a matt finish as a shiny "brilliant" finish is clear like glass where matt is slightly couldy. if you want a matt finish then you just use matt as your varnish after. hope that helps a little.
@@SylvesterFritzfirst of all I want to thank you for taking the time to respond to me, I really appreciate it x
so that means I can still sell my art and take pictures after the isolation coat?
@@jackiek3860 your welcome Jackie. Yes, but if I was you I would take the pictures before applying the iso coat or varnish as you will have a lot more shine to deal with when it comes to editing the image for prints. and Sale, for sure, if anything it makes your work even better as you have taken an extra step any don't bother to do.
Have a good day :-)
@@SylvesterFritz thanks again
i turned my electric dog nail file into a mixer! it works great with the big c batteries. :)
that's some Tim Allen stuff right there, oh oh. lol