Should i varnish acrylic painting

Paintings that have a gloss surface can be difficult to see if they are not lit properly. This can take away from the painted image to the point of being distracting. What makes for a glossy or matte surface on a painting? Gloss varnishes encourage the reflection of light in a specular, or mirror-like, direction off the surface of the painting.

Gloss surfaces deepen values and saturate colors in paintings. Matte varnishes are formulated with matting agents solids in the varnish layer, which act to scatter the light at the surface of the painting. Depending on the amount of matting agents in the varnish layer, matte varnishes lighten the darkest values in paintings. It is generally recommended that finished paintings are varnished unless the artist truly dislikes the look.

Unvarnished paintings are vulnerable to aging in ways that varnished paintings are not. Very few, if any, private collectors keep their homes at the uncontaminated levels and controlled climates that museums do. There are two important criteria that a quality picture varnish must have — first, the varnish must be water-clear to not change or alter the color scheme of the painting below. Second, the varnish must be easily removable in the future.

The top-most layer of any painting will ultimately take on a layer of dust and dirt. Varnishes provide a non-porous layer which prevents dust and dirt from being embedded in the more porous paint layers beneath.

If and when the painting needs to be cleaned, the varnish layer can be easily removed from the painting, along with the dust and dirt that has accumulated on top.

Traditional dammar varnish and other natural resins make a durable top layer but yellow and darken over time and become increasingly difficult to remove for purposes of cleaning a painting. In the midth century, acrylic resin varnishes were adopted because of their stability of color.

However, these same varnishes changed the look of paintings, leading many conservators back to the use of dammar, despite its tendency to yellow with age. The research that came out of the National Gallery identified the most stable resin, Regalrez , to be used as a picture varnish. But, like most of us, we like to see or sell our paintings for the world to admire, so ensuring they can last for decades without losing their color vibrance is a good thing.

As much as we hate to admit it, the hours we poured into a painting can be lost to the dredges of time and degradation. Plus, when left unprotected, attempting to wash or touch your acrylic painting may chip it or even come completely off! No bueno. Varnish can help extend the lifetime of your paintings, a big part because it preserves the colors better and helps create little-to-no interference when it comes to cleaning and maintaining it. Basically, the less you have to touch the original part of the painting itself, the longer and more resilient that painting will be.

Another way to think of it is like this: if you have had a painting in your family for a long time and want to restore it back to its original state of vibrancy, you would have much greater success if the painting has been varnished versus not. Have you ever seen inconsistencies on the surface of your painting? Like some areas appear glossier or shinier than others, either because you reapplied another layer of paint somewhere that may have been glossier than another layer of paint?

Long story short, no matter how you turn your canvas, you notice an imbalance of proper light reflection and it kinda bothers you a little bit. Adding a layer of varnish can even out the surface reflection, giving your eye a more unified viewing experience. Now, comes the bigger question…. And more importantly, will it affect the overall painting? When it comes to choosing various varnish sheens, there are 3 big contenders: glossy, matte, and satin finish.

Each of these have their ups and downs in terms of overall painting aesthetic. As further demonstration, here are the different sheen effects of matte, satin and gloss over the color black.

Do you notice the differences between the three? Glossy varnish, as the name suggest, gives your paintings a glossier, shinier finish — similar to what you would typically see in magazines. Matte varnish is practically the opposite effect of glossy varnish. It contains a white matting agent which when dried creates a smoother, less-reflective surface. It sits nicely in between the two sheens. Using acrylic sealers can help to fill in the tiny holes and crevices in your acrylic painting and prevent dirt buildup.

Plus, sealing in your colors can help protect those colors from direct UV exposure, helping those colors last longer than if left to their own devices. Another alternative would be to just leave your painting as is, without applying varnish. It really is a means to protect your painting so it can last for many lifetimes. But left on its own, dried acrylics can last a generation or two, especially if you got good quality paint to get you there.

It may gather up some dirt along the way, which can be a challenger to clean, but if you like that kind of look, then skip the varnish. We generally recommend starting with MSA Varnish Gloss to build up layers until an even, glossy surface is achieved. After that, Archival Varnish Satin or Matte could be applied, if a matter sheen is desired. I am looking for a varnish which can do oil and acrylic that protects against UV. I have just finished art school and was never shown varnishes. Can I use a glass varnish and then apply a coat of the spray for UV?

Satin or Matte. This technique allows you to built up sufficient layers of UV-protective varnish, that should protect your paintings significantly from UV-induced discoloration or fading.

We have found that approx. Feel free to reach out whenever you have more questions. Here is where you can reach us:. El barniz brillante sobre acrilicos…. Por supuesto que ayuda a resaltar los colores…sobre todo los oscuros. La solucion que encontre …es hacer una mezcla de barniz acrilico brillante….. Hay que dejar secar bien ….

No conviene barnizar en dias muy frios…. Gracias por tu comentario. Es genial que hayas encontrado una forma de barnizar y fotografiar tus cuadros que te funcione. No recomendamos forzar el secado de un barniz con un secador de pelo ni a la luz solar directa, para evitar que se sequen las grietas u otros defectos de la superficie.

Thank you for your comment. It is great that you have found a way to varnish and photograph your paintings that works for you. If the glare from a gloss varnish is problematic while photographing the art work, one could also simply wait with the varnishing after the paintings have been photographed. We would not recommend force drying a varnish with a hair dryer or in direct sunlight, to avoid drying cracks or other surface defects.

Also, one would want to avoid blowing dust onto the surface. The most important advice is to test new varnishing materials or techniques, prior to varnishing actual artworks, to make sure the results are satisfactory.

Hello, I have nearly completed an acrylic painting on stretched canvas. Before painting I applied a couple of layers of Gesso. Would varnish or perhaps a layer of clear acrylic gel help to conceal these lines? Many Thanks, Dave Owen. Thank you for commenting. A regular varnish or acrylic medium would not help much to conceal irregularities in the ground or paint layers, because they dry to relatively thin layers and conform to the underlying layers.

One would have to build up many layers to counteract the surface irregularities. It would be best to test this application on a small trial piece. Alternatively, you could consider using a fine art grade two-component resin, which could be poured thickly in one application. It might be laborious to remove an extremely thick layer of MSA Varnish, but at least it would be possible if needed.

Casting resins and waterborne acrylics, on the other hand, are permanent. I want to varnish a painting but am unable to determine if it is acrylic or oil. In the past, I have varnished a painting I was able to determine was acrylic by wiping a bit of rubbing alcohol in the corner and seeing paint rub off.

I tried the same test this time and nothing rubbed off. I was convinced it was acrylic but now I am thinking it is oil but cannot confirm. What should I do?

Also, if I go the MSA varnish route, being that it is unknown if the painting is acrylic or oil, would it be safest to still apply an isolation coat even though it could possibly be an oil painting? TLDR: What gloss varnish is recommended if the painting cannot be confirmed as either acrylic or oil based? And is an isolation coat a good idea since it could possibly be acrylic painting?

Your concern is absolutely valid. Oil paintings should not be coated with water-based acrylics, so neither isolation coat not Polymer Varnish. If the first coat sinks in and creates an uneven finish you could simply apply additional layers until the surface is even.

If you do not get pigment lift, or only very little, if is fair to expect that varnish removal would not be a problem. If varnish removability is important to you and you do get pigment lift, then you should consider not varnishing the painting at all. As a side note- oil paint layers can also be sensitive to rubbing alcohol, depending on the color and especially young paint layers.

Thus, one could also get pigment lift with alcohol and even water , on an oil painting, too. I have done acrylic painting on black paper and then applied gloss varnish on top but there are many brush strokes marks on the empty part of paper. How to fix this? It is possible that the paper was a little too absorbent and some of the varnish sunk in and thus created brush strokes.

Try applying a second and maybe a third coat of the same varnish. You might want to dilute the varnish a little more to increase the levelling quality. Try applying und brushing out the varnish swiftly and then leave it alone to give it time to level before it sets up.

Hello, Thanks for your article. It would be better to dilute the Polymer Varnish with more water to get more working time and levelling. Try 3 or 2 parts varnish to 1 part water, rather than the 4 : 1 varnish-water mixture. A more diluted varnish might require more layers to provide equal UV protection.

Water also mixes much more readily with the Polymer Varnish than the Glazing Liquid would. The main disadvantage might be that the Glazing Liquid could potentially make the varnish layer not, or less easily, removable.

If you are varnishing a big piece you could consider using a High Volume Low Pressure spray gun and make a Polymer Varnish-water dilution.

Thank you for your article. My acrylic paintings are made up of matte and glossy layers. This contrast is important. Do you think I could use matte varnish half way though a paintings production, then add glossy acrylics on top? Or would you suggest I forego the varnishing process altogether? Hello Amy, Thank you for your comment. It might be best to not varnish in your case and simply dust the paintings once or twice a year, so that dirt does not get embedded in the paint layers, which could reduce the differences in sheen.

Varnishing in a matte sheen and applying glossy paint layers on top is theoretically possible, however there are two things to keep in mind. GOLDEN varnishes are removable and during a possible future varnish removal these paint layers would be at risk of being damaged. You could, however, place a label on the reverse of the stretcher bars, stating that the varnish should not be removed and indicate the layering. If I gotta do this, I mean I really do wanna do it properly.

This is usually done with open lids in bain marie or baby-bottle warmers. But GOLDEN varnishes contain silica particles for matting agents and not wax- therefore they do not require any heating. It is important to stir matte or satin varnishes before use, in order to disperse the matting solids evenly. I added too thick a layer of varnish on my impasto painting and now it looks very milky. What can I do to take it off?

Our recommendations for removing varnishes depends on a couple of factors: the painting being an oil or acrylic painting, whether an isolation coat was applied in case it is an acrylic painting, and which varnish was used? You might need to go back with Q-tips or a cotton rag and focus on these areas.

Feel free to reach out if you have more questions. I have spray varnished a large acrylic with Schmincke Universal Satin-Matt.

The Schmincke Universal Varnish is an acrylic varnish and in theory it should be fine to apply a polyurethane product on top of a dried acrylic layer. In practice however, we would not recommend using a polyurethane product as a picture varnish. Most polyurethanes become brittle over time and could crack on a flexible support. They also tend to yellow over time and are not easily removable. The best solution would be to use Schmincke Universal Varnish Gloss on top of your current varnish layer or at least another acrylic varnish, for best compatibility.

You could create a testing surface that is similar to your painting and see how a second coat of varnish turns out. Ok, that makes recreating the surface difficult. But you could apply the varnish over an old oil study or discarded painting, just to have a surface to practice on.