Varnishing, Part 2

Varnishing is a controversial subject -- it seems to fire up emotions among the painters I've asked. Everyone has had a bad experience and a different theory as to why. Remedies also vary.

After applying three coats of varnish on the Juliano painting and not liking the results, I stripped it off one evening with mineral spirits using makeup pads (note: use odorless mineral spirits next time, and sponges not cotton pads, which leave hairs behind). Then I applied two fresh coats of varnish and it suddenly took much better to the canvas. The oil wasn't repelling it. Hypothesis: removing the mineral spirits left tiny scratches on the surface of the paint layer, giving the varnish something to hold on to. The results are good.

I also varnished the Patroclus painting, shown below. The first coat was almost perfect, only a tiny fraction of the varnish was repelled. The second coat, which I put on last night, looks good but now emphasizes some of the hairs and particles that settled between coats. Perhaps next time I'll stop at one layer of varnish.

I'm also considering building a varnishing cover to protect that painting from dust and hair. Two artists at the school have built one that's connected to their home dryer's ventilation system. A fan on the cover pulls in air through filters on the sides and blows it out through the dryer's vent.

With all of the photos I've taken of this painting, the automatic digital camera never picks up the warm colours of the skin. It seems to focus on the white of the shoulder and wash out everything else. I'm hoping a new SLR camera will help me solve that in the future.