The Smithsonian currently recommends that you NOT varnish your paintings. I think that is good enough for me. Most modern good quality or better paints will hold up really well over time. I have dug out old paintings I did with student grade acrylics I did as a kid and are over 40 years old and they have not changed. Now if it will sit near a sunny window then yeah maybe.
Ya i personally really like the way resin looks over my pour-paintings as it brings back the vibrancy & depth of colors but as far as I know ALL resins turn yellow eventually:(
You don't need the insolation coat, that's why they are always coming up with ways to clean paintings. As we know a companies job it to create new products even if they aren't needed. Just say they are so people will buy them. If my paintings are around that long. By the time it needs to be removed they'll know how to remove it. I like using a high gloss varnish just because I like it. It also helps protect it if someone uses use a damp "lint free cloth" to wipe the dust off of it. Other than that it is up to you, varnish or no varnish. I say yes you should varnish for the reason I do, people may try cleaning it and damage the painting, if the varnish is on it, it will help protect the painting. I don't know about you all reading this, but I'd like my paintings to be around long after I'm gone. At my age my paintings will be around longer than I'm 😉
So correct about all the differing views on isolation coats and varnishing. My conclusion is... it's just personal preference based on their experience.
I use a lot of acrylic gouche and acrylic ink on canvas. Both are intermixable and compatible with regular acrylic paint but on their own they are much more delicate and hard to clean. So I learned to gloss the finished painting or just layers of the painting almost as soon as they're done. (Acrylic gloss medium, the notorious isolation coat!) If the picture gets dirty it's so much easier to wipe clean if you gloss it over. The removable varnishes I use are matt and once they're on, the glossy protection coat disappears from view, although the picture remains wipeable. PS, re art museums: Most paintings that last for centuries are passed down amongst families and hang in private homes. Art museums house only a tiny fraction of the crème de la crème!!
This is useful! I'm new to painting and I'm unsure about varnish. I mainly got varnish for clay because the paint might chip off but with painting on canvas, I've been unsure whether to use them or not. I got this one varnish but it had a yellowing effect and I didn't know how to make it clear. I was doing a 3x3 canvas painting and the varnish kinda ruined it because of the yellowing colour. I was researching into what varnish is the best but after coming across this video, I think I won't be using varnish for my canvas paintings
You say you don't use an isolation coat but what varnish are you using, removable or non-removable? I varnish my acrylic on canvas paintings but I do far more painting on paper with acrylic ink, airbrush paint (applied with a brush), fluid acrylics and acrylic gouache. These are usually halfway between a drawing and a full painting and I never varnish these, they go in a frame behind glass. When I do varnish I always put on 3-4 coats of acrylic gloss medium thinned 2:1 medium to water as an isolation layer. This is where the brushstrokes can show up, in my experience. I apply it with a foam brush. The water thins down the gloopiness so much that any bubbles have disappeared long before it dries. Then I wait a week and paff on a couple of coats of matt spray varnish. When this is done you can barely see anything has been done to the picture, which is the way I want it. I only varnish for protection. The way I see it, a varnish on acrylic is like the glass in front of a watercolour. It needs to be removable in case food, drink, paint, chemicals or other crap get on it , that's the whole point of it being there. I don't know if a painting is going to be loved 500 years from now but maybe it will be. I can't see the point of not protecting a picture when it's so easy to do.
I like to varnish my paintings because I had paintings in the past that was not varnished and it had gotten dusty and got molds on it. From my experience, it is a lot better to varnish because varnish creates a layer on top of your painting which blocks dirt and mold from getting absorb and set on the canvas.
I totally agree. Being new to acrylics, but long time oil painter, I would only add a layer of something if it improves the look of a painting. For oils this could be oiling out or varnish. For acrylics, I have tried just an isolation coat which seems to help the look. I suppose just a layer of medium, like Gac 100, would do the same thing?
Brush? Roller? I use a car wash sponge, the really big ones. Very soft and spongy. A touch of water then pad dry with paper towel. Then pour on some varnish direct to the flat painting and lightly spread all over with the sponge...fast and VERY easy, no brush stroke effects:)
1:58 Listen here… you woman of talent, you make me wanna buy one of your paintings and send it out into space with a perfect trajectory, not to ever run into anything… so that it will outlive the earth and you’ll eat your words, lady. 💅🎨🖌️
I started oil painting for the first time last night working on my sky. I’ve noticed some parts of my sky are shiny, and some parts are barely shiny at all. I’m considering a varnish but would like something that holds up well to the sun incase a customers painting is placed close to a window. Do you know of any varnish that does not yellow? I’d prefer a flat finish vs shiny if possible.
Thank you for sharing these tips. I was intimidated by all the brush application precautions so I just opted for a spray varnish. But now I want to reuse that surface and paint over it. Have you painted over varnished acrylic? Any recommendations? I’m thinking of just sanding and applying gesso.
I’ve never painted over an entire painting that I already varnished, but I have painted over areas that were varnished in a mixed media work. And the paint seem to stick to it just fine. So I would tend to think that you could paint over it without sanding it off, but not sure…
K, I enjoy creating relief carvings, then “coloring” the piece using acrylic paint pens and ink. I have used non waxed shellac to seal colored and raw wood areas of the piece. After this I apply MinnWax paste wax. I really like the look, but I worry about the “lack of” protection. I would really like to learn of and utilize a “top coat” that adds protection. Customers love to touch these carvings. It’s an almost irresistible urge to touch & experience relief carving textures and “enhanced 2D” effects. With that said… I hope you can advise or point me to a good resource. Best
The reason I want to varnish an acrylic painting I plan on doing is because the person I'm giving it to is a smoker. I just think it would be a good thing to do so that it can be cleaned. I doubt you can get cigarette tar off an acrylic painting. Even if it's framed with glass, the cigarette smoke will get on it.
Does the varnish stays sticky for ever? I have a small handmade business, I tried to make a wooden coasters, paint on them with acrylic and varnish them to be functional, the problem is that the varnish seems like it's dry, but when I put the hot cup on it the cup picks up the coaster, and if there are some drops of liquid it sticks even more, I am very frustrated, what can I do?
I honestly don’t know, I don’t make items on wood that are used for functional purposes like coasters. Maybe you could try using resin rather than varnish? I’m not sure.
Hi! Great videos on how to varnish! I am new to it and I have a question maybe you can help with. Why does the varnish make the dry paint reactivate and start to bleed? Thank you for you videos!
i think the only time you'd need an isolation coat is if you paint w/ diluted acrylic with water bc it will come off if u would need to clean it later w soap and water. i have a painting that i really like and regret putting isolation coat and varnish on it. it ruined🥲
Varnishing is so tough. Lots of ways to ruin art. Spraying is the only way, but who wants all the expense and set up for that mess!? We need a company that will varnish our art for a fee.
You can if it’s a small correction, I wouldn’t completely repaint everything over the varnish, though. But then after you touch it up, revarnish those areas.
I’m confused. If you use varnish with no isolation coat, you can’t safely remove the varnish. And varnish is supposed to be removed and replaced after 5-10 years, so they say. Does anyone really do that? I don’t know. But if the varnish is yellowing in 15-20 years, your painting is ruined. Right? So it seems best practice is either no isolation coat and no varnish, or yes to both. Or maybe yes isolation coat to seal and protect and saturate colors, with no varnish. But NOT varnish without isolation coat.
According to liquitex , their varnishes are archival. So it will not yellow overtime. Or at least it should not. Other sources on the Internet, save it most other modern varnishes will also not yellow overtime.
Canvas prints, but not paper, you can varnish paper though. let’s say you are adhering it to a wood board for mounting or something. But I don’t usually do that.
@@KrystleColeArt hmmm... actually we got a printer Epson L18050 it's an A3+ printer but it has dye based ink now our art prints are not at all waterproof....so you have said in your videos you go with pigment ink I just want to know that are pigment inks shiny? Like some of the prints which we got from the printing press, the prints inks are shiny specially black color so just need to know that cause we want to print out artwork majorly Thank you✨
The ink on my Epson surecolor printers, which are all pigment ink printers, are not shiny. They're only shiny if you print on glossy or luster paper. But that it the paper that is giving it shine, not the ink. The thing to be more concerned about than shine, is the fact that dye based printers are not archival. So eventually, after a few years, maybe 5-10, your prints will start to fade and become less vibrant. Customers will not be happy about this. That's why archival ink and paper are a must. th-cam.com/video/bt3HLLTG-wc/w-d-xo.html
@NeuroSoup Interesting! I've just always varnished. But I definitely don't go crazy like some people do. 2 coats with some spray stuff, 5 mins between coats. Mostly for light protection, and since I'm I'm the PNW, moisture protection 🤣
I use a foam brush and it creates SO MANY bubbles. If you want to get rid of bubbles, use a small blow torch and few inches away from the painting. 100% gone after that.
Interesting, I’ve never tried that on any of my paintings, would be afraid to damage them with the heat. But good to know it works if bubbles do occur.
I don’t make videos on that topic anymoreon here, but you can’t find all the old drug harm, reduction videos and trip reports in my Patreon. Link to that is in the description of the video or my TH-cam about page😁
Watch this video to learn how to varnish acrylic paintings! th-cam.com/video/SIRnAMbjbDM/w-d-xo.html
In all seriousness thank you for all the trial and error you went through to provide this to other artists.
The Smithsonian currently recommends that you NOT varnish your paintings. I think that is good enough for me. Most modern good quality or better paints will hold up really well over time. I have dug out old paintings I did with student grade acrylics I did as a kid and are over 40 years old and they have not changed. Now if it will sit near a sunny window then yeah maybe.
wow. good to know!
Ya i personally really like the way resin looks over my pour-paintings as it brings back the vibrancy & depth of colors but as far as I know ALL resins turn yellow eventually:(
The timing of this video is so on point. I bought myself my first Acrylics set for Christmas. Thanks K.. Happy new year x
Happy new year!!
You don't need the insolation coat, that's why they are always coming up with ways to clean paintings. As we know a companies job it to create new products even if they aren't needed. Just say they are so people will buy them. If my paintings are around that long. By the time it needs to be removed they'll know how to remove it. I like using a high gloss varnish just because I like it. It also helps protect it if someone uses use a damp "lint free cloth" to wipe the dust off of it. Other than that it is up to you, varnish or no varnish. I say yes you should varnish for the reason I do, people may try cleaning it and damage the painting, if the varnish is on it, it will help protect the painting. I don't know about you all reading this, but I'd like my paintings to be around long after I'm gone. At my age my paintings will be around longer than I'm 😉
So correct about all the differing views on isolation coats and varnishing. My conclusion is... it's just personal preference based on their experience.
I use a lot of acrylic gouche and acrylic ink on canvas. Both are intermixable and compatible with regular acrylic paint but on their own they are much more delicate and hard to clean. So I learned to gloss the finished painting or just layers of the painting almost as soon as they're done. (Acrylic gloss medium, the notorious isolation coat!) If the picture gets dirty it's so much easier to wipe clean if you gloss it over. The removable varnishes I use are matt and once they're on, the glossy protection coat disappears from view, although the picture remains wipeable.
PS, re art museums:
Most paintings that last for centuries are passed down amongst families and hang in private homes. Art museums house only a tiny fraction of the crème de la crème!!
It is rare to see such an honest video !!!
Thank you!
I use Mod Podge and a sponge brush to varnish my paintings. TIP: Do not use Mod Podge on watercolors.....it makes the colors smear
This is useful! I'm new to painting and I'm unsure about varnish. I mainly got varnish for clay because the paint might chip off but with painting on canvas, I've been unsure whether to use them or not. I got this one varnish but it had a yellowing effect and I didn't know how to make it clear. I was doing a 3x3 canvas painting and the varnish kinda ruined it because of the yellowing colour. I was researching into what varnish is the best but after coming across this video, I think I won't be using varnish for my canvas paintings
You say you don't use an isolation coat but what varnish are you using, removable or non-removable? I varnish my acrylic on canvas paintings but I do far more painting on paper with acrylic ink, airbrush paint (applied with a brush), fluid acrylics and acrylic gouache. These are usually halfway between a drawing and a full painting and I never varnish these, they go in a frame behind glass. When I do varnish I always put on 3-4 coats of acrylic gloss medium thinned 2:1 medium to water as an isolation layer. This is where the brushstrokes can show up, in my experience. I apply it with a foam brush. The water thins down the gloopiness so much that any bubbles have disappeared long before it dries. Then I wait a week and paff on a couple of coats of matt spray varnish. When this is done you can barely see anything has been done to the picture, which is the way I want it. I only varnish for protection.
The way I see it, a varnish on acrylic is like the glass in front of a watercolour. It needs to be removable in case food, drink, paint, chemicals or other crap get on it , that's the whole point of it being there. I don't know if a painting is going to be loved 500 years from now but maybe it will be. I can't see the point of not protecting a picture when it's so easy to do.
I like to varnish my paintings because I had paintings in the past that was not varnished and it had gotten dusty and got molds on it. From my experience, it is a lot better to varnish because varnish creates a layer on top of your painting which blocks dirt and mold from getting absorb and set on the canvas.
@@FelmeArt and varnishing gives a painting that nice oil painted look too
Thanks Krystle. This is an interesting and helpful video.
This video was SO helpful! Thank you 🥰
You’re welcome 🎨
I think the isolation coat is if the varnish yellows so needs to be removed.
I varnish paintings to help protect them. Easy to wipe off dust etc.
I totally agree. Being new to acrylics, but long time oil painter, I would only add a layer of something if it improves the look of a painting. For oils this could be oiling out or varnish. For acrylics, I have tried just an isolation coat which seems to help the look. I suppose just a layer of medium, like Gac 100, would do the same thing?
Not sure
Brush? Roller? I use a car wash sponge, the really big ones. Very soft and spongy. A touch of water then pad dry with paper towel. Then pour on some varnish direct to the flat painting and lightly spread all over with the sponge...fast and VERY easy, no brush stroke effects:)
Interesting! Thanks for the tip 🎨
1:58
Listen here… you woman of talent, you make me wanna buy one of your paintings and send it out into space with a perfect trajectory, not to ever run into anything… so that it will outlive the earth and you’ll eat your words, lady.
💅🎨🖌️
lol 😂
I started oil painting for the first time last night working on my sky. I’ve noticed some parts of my sky are shiny, and some parts are barely shiny at all. I’m considering a varnish but would like something that holds up well to the sun incase a customers painting is placed close to a window. Do you know of any varnish that does not yellow? I’d prefer a flat finish vs shiny if possible.
Most modern varnish does not yellow, but I’m not sure about what varnish to use for oil paint. I’m an acrylic painter. I’d Google it!
But what about blocking uv sun rays, which varnish is said to do?
Not all varnish is made to protect UV, but some definitely does. But most paint is made to be light fast, except fluorescents.
Thank you for sharing these tips. I was intimidated by all the brush application precautions so I just opted for a spray varnish. But now I want to reuse that surface and paint over it. Have you painted over varnished acrylic? Any recommendations? I’m thinking of just sanding and applying gesso.
I’ve never painted over an entire painting that I already varnished, but I have painted over areas that were varnished in a mixed media work. And the paint seem to stick to it just fine. So I would tend to think that you could paint over it without sanding it off, but not sure…
@@KrystleColeArt thank you! It will be a fun experiment. :)
K,
I enjoy creating relief carvings, then “coloring” the piece using acrylic paint pens and ink. I have used non waxed shellac to seal colored and raw wood areas of the piece. After this I apply MinnWax paste wax. I really like the look, but I worry about the “lack of” protection.
I would really like to learn of and utilize a “top coat” that adds protection.
Customers love to touch these carvings. It’s an almost irresistible urge to touch & experience relief carving textures and “enhanced 2D” effects.
With that said… I hope you can advise or point me to a good resource.
Best
I honestly don’t know. I’ve only used varnish on canvas acrylic paintings and prints, no experience with wood or min wax.
thank you so much, you’re so honest n real
Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
The reason I want to varnish an acrylic painting I plan on doing is because the person I'm giving it to is a smoker. I just think it would be a good thing to do so that it can be cleaned. I doubt you can get cigarette tar off an acrylic painting. Even if it's framed with glass, the cigarette smoke will get on it.
Does the varnish stays sticky for ever?
I have a small handmade business, I tried to make a wooden coasters, paint on them with acrylic and varnish them to be functional, the problem is that the varnish seems like it's dry, but when I put the hot cup on it the cup picks up the coaster, and if there are some drops of liquid it sticks even more, I am very frustrated, what can I do?
I honestly don’t know, I don’t make items on wood that are used for functional purposes like coasters. Maybe you could try using resin rather than varnish? I’m not sure.
@@KrystleColeArt
I will probably try it out, thanks for your response. 💛
Loved this video. Great job
Thank you very helpful
You're welcome 😊
Hi! Great videos on how to varnish! I am new to it and I have a question maybe you can help with. Why does the varnish make the dry paint reactivate and start to bleed? Thank you for you videos!
It shouldn’t, never had it do that. Maybe let your painting dry for longer.
@@KrystleColeArtmine did, and it was completely dry. My brush would pick up some of the colors of the painting when I apply the varnish
i think the only time you'd need an isolation coat is if you paint w/ diluted acrylic with water bc it will come off if u would need to clean it later w soap and water. i have a painting that i really like and regret putting isolation coat and varnish on it. it ruined🥲
Thank you. This helped. God bless
Varnishing is so tough. Lots of ways to ruin art. Spraying is the only way, but who wants all the expense and set up for that mess!? We need a company that will varnish our art for a fee.
Thank you so much !!!!
After applying the varnish it is impossible to make very small corrections to the acrylic painting, right? Thanks you.
You can if it’s a small correction, I wouldn’t completely repaint everything over the varnish, though. But then after you touch it up, revarnish those areas.
@@KrystleColeArtThanks you.
I’m confused. If you use varnish with no isolation coat, you can’t safely remove the varnish. And varnish is supposed to be removed and replaced after 5-10 years, so they say. Does anyone really do that? I don’t know. But if the varnish is yellowing in 15-20 years, your painting is ruined. Right?
So it seems best practice is either no isolation coat and no varnish, or yes to both. Or maybe yes isolation coat to seal and protect and saturate colors, with no varnish. But NOT varnish without isolation coat.
According to liquitex , their varnishes are archival. So it will not yellow overtime. Or at least it should not. Other sources on the Internet, save it most other modern varnishes will also not yellow overtime.
Do you also do varnish on art prints?
Canvas prints, but not paper, you can varnish paper though. let’s say you are adhering it to a wood board for mounting or something. But I don’t usually do that.
@@KrystleColeArt hmmm... actually we got a printer Epson L18050 it's an A3+ printer but it has dye based ink now our art prints are not at all waterproof....so you have said in your videos you go with pigment ink I just want to know that are pigment inks shiny? Like some of the prints which we got from the printing press, the prints inks are shiny specially black color so just need to know that cause we want to print out artwork majorly
Thank you✨
The ink on my Epson surecolor printers, which are all pigment ink printers, are not shiny. They're only shiny if you print on glossy or luster paper. But that it the paper that is giving it shine, not the ink.
The thing to be more concerned about than shine, is the fact that dye based printers are not archival. So eventually, after a few years, maybe 5-10, your prints will start to fade and become less vibrant. Customers will not be happy about this. That's why archival ink and paper are a must. th-cam.com/video/bt3HLLTG-wc/w-d-xo.html
@@KrystleColeArt okay thank you so much for your advice it really helped💗
You have answered a question...thank you 💜uk
Do you sell originals without varnish?
Yes, many of the originals I sell are not varnished
@NeuroSoup Interesting! I've just always varnished. But I definitely don't go crazy like some people do. 2 coats with some spray stuff, 5 mins between coats. Mostly for light protection, and since I'm I'm the PNW, moisture protection 🤣
I use a foam brush and it creates SO MANY bubbles. If you want to get rid of bubbles, use a small blow torch and few inches away from the painting. 100% gone after that.
Interesting, I’ve never tried that on any of my paintings, would be afraid to damage them with the heat. But good to know it works if bubbles do occur.
I always use foam roller and I will never go back to brushes.
me too :)
You are cool!
what happened to your OG vids from like 10 years ago
I don’t make videos on that topic anymoreon here, but you can’t find all the old drug harm, reduction videos and trip reports in my Patreon. Link to that is in the description of the video or my TH-cam about page😁
@@KrystleColeArt dope, u are a TH-cam legend
Thank you
So your saying my painting it's not going to end up in a museum 😢
Statistically speaking, most of our paintings aren’t going to end up in museums, just being realistic ❤️
You are cool
Such a nice beautiful soul , thank you so much for informative content, you won sub 🤗
Thanks for subbing!