Varnish suitable for both oil and acrylicApproveRejectUn-ApproveSubscribeUn-Unsubscribe
Question asked 2019-05-29 18:42:31 ...
Most recent comment 2019-05-30 23:27:53
Acrylic
Varnishes
Oil Paint
I often see artist wanting to leave raw canvas showing in their paiintings.
Recommendations for this are to use a GAC product from Golden, or a clear acrylic polymer as a barrier.
So if someone were to have a surface of both acrylic and oil, what varnish/s would you recommend that could be removed from both without damaging the paint?
George O'Hanlon recommended an isolating coat before the final varnish, but I imagine the isolating coat would eventually need to be removed as well at some point.
Ron Francis
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Moderator Answer
(brian baade)
Hi Ron
I am unsure about exactly what you are asking. Do you mean
you want exposed canvas on a painting that has both acrylic and oil paint on
the surface? If so a clear coat of acrylic dispersion medium on the canvas
would be good followed by the acrylic dispersion paint, and then the oil paint.
After the whole was allowed to dry for an appropriate period of time the whole
could then be varnish if desired, see below. It may be helpful to read this document
in our resources section:
https://www.artcons.udel.edu/mitra/Documents/MITRA_Varnishes.pdf
If you are asking how one could varnish a painting with exposed
regions of oil paint and areas of exposed acrylic dispersion paint AND protect the
acrylic dispersion paint from theoretical damage from cleaning, that is a
separate issue. I agree that a sacrificial
coating of clear acrylic dispersion medium over an acrylic dispersion painting
is a good idea when it is to be covered with a MSA, Regalrez, or similar
aliphatic/aromatic soluble varnish. This does not work very well in a work
where portions of the exposed painting are acrylic dispersion and others are
oil paint. The acrylic dispersion medium would have poor adhesion to the areas
of exposed oil paint.
I would recommend that if you want to varnish such a
work that you either simply coat the whole with the MSA or Regalrez, etc.
varnish.
Alternatively you could give the whole a thin application of an
acrylic solution varnish (resin dissolved in solvent) before applying one of
the above. For instance, B-72, while not a “pretty” varnish, could withstand
the solvents used to remove an MSA or Regalrez varnish if the painting needs to
be cleaned in the future. B-72 is one of the most stable materials available. Its
use would require that the work be allowed to dry for a good period of time as
it is not soluble in solvents less aromatic than pure Xylene (100%).
The final varnish actually provides most of the aesthetic, saturating effects and a surface coating of MSA or Regalrez over B-72 would create a very saturating effect if desired.
Recording your
use of multiple varnishes somewhere on the painting (again see our resources
section) would allow future conservators to choose a cleaning system that only
removes the surface coating and does not completely remove the B-72.
Having written the above, I would probably just go with the first
option.
Of course, others may have other, better answers to your
question.
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Moderator Answer
(brian baade)
What you propose is fine. There would be no reason to remove
the GAC at a later date. It is not really known to yellow appreciably at all.
The idea of applying a sacrificial, not necessarily
removable, layer od acrylic dispersion medium over acrylic dispersion pigmented
paints it to allow for potential (and only theoretically potential) biting into
a pigment coat of acrylic dispersion paint. This should not be an issue at all
in the scenario you describe. Any minute abrasion (etc.) of the clear acrylic
dispersion interlayer caused by cleaning would be filled in by layer varnishes.
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