What Happens If You Varnish Oil Paintings Too Early? Real Life Experiment
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- Опубликовано: 5 окт 2024
- An oil painting needs to dry for 6-12 months before you can safely varnish it without negatively impacting your painting, but what happens if you varnish it too soon? Well we are about to find out! I am doing this experiment for the next year where I will be varnishing parts of a test painting at different points in time. We will be able to see what really happens when you varnish too early vs waiting the full 6-12 months. Note that I simply painted a canvas with oils and will then varnish it. I am not doing anything to increase the drying time of the painting. I am using Daler & Rowney Georgian oil paints and Windsor & Newton high gloss dammar varnish in this demonstration.
Results are in! See video here:
• Varnishing Too Soon - ...
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The manufacturer of Gamvar (Gamblin) say you can use it when the oil painting is dry to touch without the long wait. It might be a good idea (since you are just starting the experiment) to do another canvas using Gamvar to compare with the varnish you are using to see if they have the same result.
Ellen Catherwood I'm curious about that also. He also forgot about using fast drying mediums such as galkyd..i probably spelt that wrong...which will make your paints layers dry with 24hrs
I have used Gamvar on all my oil paintings sometimes 2 weeks, sometimes 2 months, sometimes 2 years, and they all look fine.
Varnish takes your painting to the next level! The colors become so much more vibrant after varnishing so I highly recommend it!
I varnished some paintings too early once(about 2 weeks),with spray varnish and it left a cloudy film on my paintings. I didn't know what went wrong and it was very upsetting to ruin my beautiful paints. However after a year, I revarnished them with a gloss Darmar varnish using a 4 inch fine sponge paint roller and the colors all popped and the paintings were beautiful again!
Glad you were able to save the painting from the initial bad varnish! :)
I need help! Is there a difference between darmar varnish and normal varnish.😁
Sounds like the Temperature could have been too cold ?
Omg, I need to know this! I'm so happy that you are doing this experiment! Thank you for accepting the sacrifice of the long commitment of your time to helping so many other artists who like me, will benefit from your effort. Truly grateful and feeling humbled by your effort. I hope everybody appreciates what you are doing. Thank you!
Thank you! I am still keeping up with the experiment. I am unsure it will yield the results i want as many times the issues with varnishing early are even more long term than this experiment. I just figured this was needes because oil painters are so impatient and want to varnish so soon all the time. I don't get it. Lol
I can't even commit to 1 week worth of patience.. He is holding on for a 2 year one just to clear an age old issue out, once and for all.. That would be an awesome video, no doubt.. GL
Deboshri Mukherjee 😂😂😂😂
Fantastic! Thank you so much for taking the time to document this!
You can use a retouch once the oil doesn’t indent from pressing a fingernail into the thickest area of the painting. These are also referred to as breathable varnishes. Gamvar is a widely used choice.
So what is your suggestion for people who say they want a painting from you in a month of two? Should I give them the painting un varnished and suggest they apply the varnish in 6 months themselves? What is the convention for artists? Especially young artists, with whom customers are less patient with?
I would either...
1. Switch to acrylic painting and then you never need to worry about long wait times.
2. Offer to take the painting back in the future and varnish it for them. I probably wouldn't suggest they varnish it, as they likely don't have experience varnishing and may ruin the art.
3. Just sell it unvarnished and never even bring it up! Varnish is just a protective coat and shouldn't "devalue" the art in any way. Yea the varnish looks nice, but its not worth ruining the art due to impatience.
You can use a retouching varnish after 2 months, and say to your client that the painting will have to be vanished after with a final varnish. You have to specify that they will have to pay for it.
@@en1909s9iah so, to apply the final varnish you need to remove the retouch or can apply over the top of it?
@@giselymuniz5919 you can apply it over the retouch varnish, after a whole year (minimum) has passed after you finished painting
Cracking makes painting sell much, much faster. Make them crack, then seal it all in. Buyers love the look of a vintage painting.
i varnished my painting 2 days after finished itt .. now its shit
*gasp* ...you're...That Guy! :D this should be a good lesson even if time has to pass first!
+Kathy D ..like i say in the video, patience is a virtue! Lol
I'm not sure this experiment will yield much, even if the archival quality is compromised I think the effects likely won't be noticed for decades. Especially as thin as that paint is. As someone who's painted with oils for years I've never seen a varnish go bad even when doing it shortly after drying to the touch, now I do try to wait as long as possible as I paint quite thick and want the paintings to last...but it's a long timeline that has to be considered. I'll be interested if a year shows any damage.
Also if you look at a lot of guides online varnishing is used as a medium to dry oil paints faster. I feel like as long as you dont wish to remove the varnish one day its fine.
Good video. I think this problem is easy to solve by using retouching varnish.
Retouch varnish is not intended to use as a final varnish. I do agree that if you are in a rush and need to varnish for something such as an art exhibition, then that us a good temporary solution. But for final varnishing, you will notice that the retouch varnish sort of absorbs into the painting and looks very spotty over time. I do have experience using it and would only use it as a temporary solution on small paintings. You will find its also quite sticky.
Hey I have an idea that if you want the painting looking glossy without rushing to varnish it,for a show,you can easily achieve it by oiling the surface with normal painting oil. Don't know if it's right to do so.
Thanks for the helpful video :) are there any tips for the best way to store your painting in the mean time before it's varnished, so that it doesn't get damaged?
I need answers too
Waiting for the result since 10 months .. can you do a video during half progress? To see how the first box looks now .. can't wait !
Hey Rima,
I am planning to do the 1 year update soon! The results are definitely interesting, and along the lines of what I have expected! :)
Thank you! Yes, curious to see your results. Was wondering what you suggest an artist do or say to people who commission paintings and want them in a month or two? Should we give the painting unvarnished and provide the buyer with a varnish they can apply themselves after 6 months? Is this common practice? What happens if you don't varnish the painting at all?
Thank you ! 😊
shortishperson hi, my father used to paint on really big canvases and he never liked the glossy finish of varnish so he stopped varnishing them. Guess back then u didn't have much choice in choosing varnishes.
Over 40 years later now .. his paintings still look good but I would definitely say they became dusty and not as vibrant/freest (though Of course I wasn't even born when the paintings were fresh so can't compare) .. they didn't darken as much as museum paintings .. it still has a lot of color and once in couple of years he just gently wipes with soapy water or damp cloth to clean off the dust.
He has only one painting which still has varnish on .. and that definitely is more vibrant than the rest !
Nice. Will follow along!
so... its been 2 years
Great! Love experiments!
will be interested to see the follow up but do you actually have any tips for presenting a canvas for a show in a month without varnish? It is certainly dry to touch and hasn't been worked on for a bit.
Dude awesome video
well.. here's what happened with me..
I finished a painting 3 days ago,and it was touch dry -apparently not dry enough to be varnished-,I applied a thin coat of Winsor & Newton varnish for recently finished oil paintings ,and some of the color came out ,now i'm left with white patches in my black background and i can't even claim that it was my idea in the first place *as an artist* to have these patches! xD.
The moral of the story is "even if your painting is touch dry give it at least two weeks to
spare yourself the headache =)".
Yes. I still need to make the video showing the results, but this is exactly what happened to me on this test painting too!
Thank you
I recently questioned a painter on instgram about the issue. And her painting were really gorgeous. But when I asked her about the standard time to varnish a painting she said “about a week” and I’s likeee whaaattt... my paints take longer than that to dry.
For people like me who paint with acrylics using impasto techniques. How much time do you think or would you recommend us to allow for the paint to be dry and then varnish. Also another question I have is, do you need to have an isolation coat before varnish? Is that a must? And last but not least. Can a medium gel used for keeping acrylics moist be used as an isolation coat? Thanks a lot for the help
1) not less than 1 week before varnishing; 2) with an isolation coat protection is better, but hypothetically you can skip the layer and only varnish an acrylic painting, but I do not advise doing it; 3) wait 6-8 hours till isolation coat dry before varnishing, but up to 24 hours is much better; 4) isolation coat must be bought like an isolation coat, you cannot use any mediums instead of it.
The result: your painting colors will look much deeper and vivid.
Very interesting experiment, I use Windsor and Newton Griffin fast drying Alkyd Oils and only very thinly, touch dry in 2-3 hours. I use a breathable Re-touching varnish after 2-3 weeks but I would like to give my paintings a final varnish at some point I wonder what the safe time would be in this case?
I'm having great results with (no solvent) acylic floor, concrete, etc. Varnish on my fast dry acylic enamel spray painting after 24 hours. I Want get it down to a hour.
But solvents...laquers, or oil bases cuase room for error, failure. Or also by using little to no toxic chemical paints.
good video, thanks for sharing, , can you tell me if I can apply retouch varnish if my paint is dry but in somewhere is a little bit sticky !
Great idea, but from 5 minutes on, just labouring the obvious. Less words.
Hello sir, what’s the best way to clean brushes after using this varnish?
thx bro
Lol how can I varnish in a year if I have to ship it in three weeks? "Hey customer, buy me a plane ticket. I'll come by in six months with a bottle of gamvar and varnish real quick then catch a plane back home"... That'll be fun actually.
Help.. using 10/15minute dry acylic enamel spray paint, it has solvents. Applying a no solvent breathable acrylic varnish on top. How soon is too soon? Under 1 hour is ideal, or do I need a no solvent spray paint, or no solvent airbrush type paint? Or am i stuck with waiting 24 hours like I have to coat it every time.
Is it necessary to varnish?
Hello does this this time frame including fast drying mediums?
What happens now?
Interesting
What about retouching varnish?
All craftsmen must have patience.... or you are not a craftsmen or artist.
Hello Sir, my oil painting is one month old and I did not varnish it. Even though the painting is cracking...colors have started coming out in small pieces...I am really worried..could you please tell me how to protect the painting in this case..? Thank you in advance..
This is my guess.... did you do the painting in different stages, allowing layers of it to dry in between your painting sessions? There is nothing you can do at this point to "fix" it, but in the future you need to mix oil with your paint in subsequent layers. Research the "fat over lean prniciple". What's happening is the top layers dry faster. As the lower layers dry, it then shrinks and cracks the already dried surface layers. Adding oil will increase the dry time so the surface layers will dry slower than the base layers, making it more elastic, and preventing cracking.
do you take pictures of your paintings before or after varnishing?
Before
Technical note: consider a different mic setup. The reverb in this room is quite abrasive.
Solid content otherwise. Thanks for sharing this information!
I actually have moved since then and have a quieter setup now! Woo hoo!
So nearly finished the video and he’s still talking about what he’s ‘going to do’… I just wanted to know what happened 😐
ruclips.net/video/2RgusYINsQ4/видео.html
well, fuck, i looked this up too late! I think i varnished somewhere between 3 to 6 months. hopefully that's not too bad.
No information on what the old masters did.
That was not the intent of the video.
Can I glaze my paintings after varnishing?
hkk jr NO! Final varnish is a protective layer that can be removed and reapplied every 20 to 100 years. When the varnish is removed, your glaze will be removed if it is applied on a final varnish layer.
@@Uojomo
Thank you.
Following. Thank you. How and what do you use to varnish oils. Have some that are over ten years old but to chicken to varnish. How will I need to clean before I do varnish. Other stuff out there but I trust your opinion. :)
Please check out this video I made a while back on what I found to be the best process for varnishing paintings. This video is demonstrating with an acrylic painting and varnish, but my process is the same for oils, except I use a cheap "throw away" natural hair brush instead of a foam brush as I do with acrylics (shown in video). I always do 2 coats of varnish. For cleaning, I typically just use a brush to dust off the painting, assuming there isn't any major dirt accumulating on it. I am not 100% sure on other ways to clean before varnishing, other than the dusting I usually do.
ruclips.net/video/bUqWBmm5Y1E/видео.html
Where are the results??
I do need to make a video. Will post it soon. The results are consistent with what i expected, though i didn't get any cracking...which was a surprise.
ruclips.net/video/2RgusYINsQ4/видео.html
dude your experiment is not in this video - you should change your title otherwise this is pure click-bait
There is a comment in the video description with a link to a video showing the results. There is also a popup card towards the beginning of this video to the results video. I guess you missed both of those...
I think you like to repare paint have school..make a lot of money...in museuns..love..Elisa...