MITRA Forum Question Details

​To answer your very last question the answer is: not really. I am sure some of the moderators will chime in here but I would be remiss if I did not state the obvious which is this....if you attempt to buff down a painted surface on dibond you truly need to make sure your paint layer is as flat and level as the coatings on top of it. Meaning no impasto...not even at a microscopic level. Maybe you are not to worried about buffing down to the paint layer below but that is a huge concern. I will reach out to some of my objects conservator colleagues as they will be far more informed about these types of coatings than I am...

​The following is a comment from objects conservator Craig Deller: The varnish popularized by such videos and woodworking magazines tend to be intractable synthetics, many of which we don't want on paintings (or much of anything else). While all resins are naturally glossy, they can be brought to the "water-wet" appearance. Depending on the texture of the painted surface, you may be limited. However, if the surface is flat enough to warrant the kind of mechanical action as in the video, then I would suggest a French Polish technique. While French Polishing is normally associated with shellac, it may be too amber in tone for the desired results (bleached shellac is far too unstable given the process to remove the colorants natural in shellac. I have found that by using the FP technique with B-72, or any other alcohol soluble varnish, can be brought to the water-wet shine. If this interests you, I can elaborate.

​I would like to add that while many industrial products are descriped as non-yellowing, this is seldomly sticktly true in the sense that artists mean. Very slight ambering would be a non-issue on a wooden oject but could be highly disfiguing on a fine art piece, especially if that work contained cool colors like blues or cold grays.