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My Varnishing Process- the steps to finishing a painting.

MY VARNISHING PROCESS: One of the final and most important stages of creating an artwork is varnishing. It serves several purposes; the most important being to protect the painting itself from dirt and grime. But also, varnishing brings the colours to life while it evens out gloss and matt areas. This is my varnishing process: 1. Allow the painting to dry for 72hrs (if I worked in oil paint it would need 6 mths) 2. Apply a layer of binder medium to act as an isolation layer between paint and varnish. My fav product for this is Atelier Binder Mediim . Allow to dry 24hrs. **its vital that no moisture is trapped between varnish layers. 3. Three coats of gloss or satin water based varnish are applied allowing 12-24hrs drying time in between. My fav product is Liquitex Gloss medium Varnish. As I live in a humid climate here in Queensland I need to make sure the layers are properly dry so good air flow or air conditioning is important. Otherwise the varnish will not dry clear but can be cloudy in areas. 4. If the painting looks too glossy I will next apply up to three layers of spray matt varnish to knock back the reflective surface. High gloss paintings can be a problem under lights. I prefer a satin finish which is half way between matt and gloss. My fav spray varnish is Krylon UV protectant varnish but there are several good brands available.