Total production of paintings is super low (hobbyist) and just been lucky with varnishing up until now I guess. Hi Tara, ahh the elusive varnishing decision! Seems to me to be a waste of time, unless acrylic varnish is for acrylic painting and solvent varnish is for oil painting. For the former procedure, begin by wiping your entire work surface clean. Thanks Will, very informative. 1. Sometimes a glossy surface can appear to be ‘more finished’ so may affect a customers perception, but it’s usually more of a case of having one even sheen that brings the painting together so the piece works aesthetically. How long after I spray varnish would I have to wait before rolling the painting to ship safely? I’ve had the experience of working hard to get certain highlights with thin glazes, only to have them disappear or become reduced and far less effective, after isolating and varnishing. Best, Carolyn, Brilliant to hear Carolyn, so pleased you enjoyed it. I love it and you don’t get that milky look. They are for an event and I don’t have a lot of time. Worse yet, it may actually damage or alter the painted surface beneath. on Feb 28, 2016. Very insightful and useful info. I also never heard of an isolation coat before. Will varnish help even out? In fact, this is one of the most worthwhile reasons to perform a stain-over-paint procedure. Hi Charles, yes that sounds like the perfect approach, apply an isolation coat first so you can see how the painting will look with a gloss finish, then you can judge if the satin will work the best for you. If you can’t find it in your area, you can click here to get it on Amazon, which is how I buy mine. I really appreciate your site and all the information! A holiday gift, to find this in my e-mail inbox!! Hi Will, I just completed a 40×60 canvas acrylic painting. Hello Will. And nice going answering all the comments. Hi Murtaza, thanks for your very kind comments, so pleased you found the articles helpful. The best paint to use is a water-based acrylic one. You can stain or paint over whitewash if you prepare the surface of the wood properly. With all the modern advances in coatings -- polyurethane, shellac, urethane, or varnish -- some confusion about formula is to be expected. A light spray would be easier to varnish the surface without disturbing the glitter, but would lose the sparkle. As well, I note that you and a few other artists warn about wrapping varnished paintings in bubble wrap for transport; however, none of you offer any alternate suggestions. This dresser had been painted in the past and a coat of varnish had been applied to make it more durable. Yes, you can stain over a painted wood surface to achieve what many see as an “antique” or aged finish. I use it as a teaching resource for my High School Visual Arts classes when they are working on a painting unit. I tried applying a new coat but no change. Hello Will, I’ve been varnishing my acrylic paintings for some time, using an isolation coat (golden) and then applying a few coats of gloss polymer varnish with UVLS. Yes you can mix the Wood Classics waterborne varnish or any water based polyurethane with latex but it would be thinning it and wouldn't cover very well. Just found your site again, after working on an acrylic painting that I am getting ready to glaze some oils over. Thanks so much for this wonderful website and your terrific videos! You can read a comparison article here Cheers, Will, Do you had any advice on removing minor surface damage/rubbing to dried varnish? Thanks Lynda, and a Merry Christmas to you! Do you recommend I change my habits? Would you suggest a spray varnish first, wait 24 hours and then a painted varnish over that? Horizontal surface application is best with less chance of varnish running. It would be worth the cost of varnish lost, rather than a painting finish ruined! You could try a test piece to see if you’re happy with the aesthetic vs smooth surface. Make sure the bubbles are facing outwards (so it is flat onto the canvas surface). The varnish will dry in about 1-2 hours, and you can use the wooden object or surface. Especially lately I use a lot of glaze technic,little paint, lots liquin. Your article is perfect and I will be watching out for your next round of info on varnishing. Thanks for your help! You can paint over varnished wood as long as you use the right materials and painting process. But I am now confused. Here is the Golden technical page on Polymer varnish that goes into more details. Recently I am re-discovering painting with acrylics after some 30 years of doing watercolour paintings. Solvent etc or the other day and they have been reading your site be... Satin in the last 30 years, odds are it 's polyurethane properly package an polymer! 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