What are the advantages and the disadvantages to an artist varnishing his/her acrylic painting?
Advantages: True picture varnish is a removable coating and offers UV protection. The protective coat of a varnish takes the abuse from grime, handling and shipping, evens out sheen, and seals more porous areas such as gesso. Disadvantages: A varnish may change appearance for the worse. Single coats of varnish can even out the entire sheen, which may not be the intention of the artist and the artwork loses something aesthetic. Sometimes varnishes can be difficult to apply: running/sagging, brush strokes, foam bubbles. Some may not be so removable later because of a self-crosslinking action. Why should I varnish my artwork? The age-old question (at least here at GOLDEN) “To varnish or not to varnish”. Let me give you our take on this debate. To keep it simple, we’ll just discuss acrylics.
