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01-06-2005, 11:05 AM
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#1
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CAFE & BUSINESS MODERATOR SOG Member FT Professional
Joined: Jul 2001
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 3,460
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I'm no chemist either, nor do I like taking risks with important paintings. So I use the varnish that the National Gallery uses: Gamvar, by Gamblin. Easy, simple, looks great. (Hey, that ought to be a tv commercial!)
Damar varnish yellows dramatically over time and because it needs strong solvents when conservators try to remove it, sometimes a bit of the top layer of paint comes off with it. (You can see some before and after varnish removal pictures on some museum websites.) I try to stay away from it, even retouch varnish made with Damar.
With Gamvar, if you make a terrible mess of it (though I don't see how) you can take it all off with a more gentle solvent like odorless mineral spirits. Gamvar is glossy but it's easy to cut that glossiness by thinning the varnish with mineral sprits when you put it on, or with Gamblin Cold Wax medium in whatever proportion you like, to get a less glossy surface if that's your preference.
I always take the paintings out of the frames before varnishing, and wait til the varnish is very dry before putting the frames back on.
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01-06-2005, 11:09 AM
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#2
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Juried Member
Joined: Nov 2003
Location: Signal Mountain, TN
Posts: 352
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Thanks Michele. Looks like a trip to Utrecht (in the snow & freezing rain!) is in order.
I was afraid you were going to say you take the paintings out of the frames. The framers put the brown paper on the back! Grrr. Now I guess I need to get an exacto and remove that paper. Or - this just occurred to me - I have a great relationship with the framers that did this job - maybe I can have THEM remove the painting!
So, it is the usual custom to remove the painting, then? Does noone varnish in the frame?
Oh - and one more question (sorry to be a pest) - how long usually is that "fully dry" drying time?
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01-06-2005, 11:51 AM
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#3
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PHOTOGRAPHY MODERATOR SOG Member '03 Finalist Taos SOPA '03 HonMen SoCal ASOPA '03 Finalist SoCal ASOPA '04 Finalist Taos SOPA
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Posts: 2,674
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I could never muster the courage to completely strip the painting of the varnish and begin again. Luckily the painting was mine. If you look directly at it you can't detect the offending section, but from the side, with my one good critical eye, it doth stink to high heaven.
__________________
Mike McCarty
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01-06-2005, 12:28 PM
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#4
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CAFE & BUSINESS MODERATOR SOG Member FT Professional
Joined: Jul 2001
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 3,460
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How long it takes something to "dry", whether it's paint or varnish, depends on so many factors: what type, how thick, type of support used for the painting, ambient temperature, humidity, light, etc.
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01-06-2005, 02:36 PM
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#5
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Juried Member FT Professional
Joined: Jul 2003
Location: Corpus Christi, TX
Posts: 1,713
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Cindy,
If you left it in the frame there is no way to keep the varnish from reaching right up to the frame. It would end up gluing the frame to the canvas. If ever removed - the frame would take part of the varnish (and paint) with it I bet. See if you can get the framers to take it out for you and put it back in for you - along with that nifty brown paper. Heck - see if the framers want to varnish it also.
__________________
Kim
http://kimberlydow.com
"Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes." - Maggie Kuhn
"If you obey all the rules, you'll miss all the fun." - Katherine Hepburn
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01-06-2005, 03:04 PM
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#6
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Juried Member PT Professional
Joined: May 2004
Location: Americana, Brazil
Posts: 1,042
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Cindy,
I
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01-06-2005, 07:33 PM
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#7
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SOG Member
Joined: Aug 2003
Location: Southboro, MA
Posts: 1,028
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Hi Cindy--
I recently dealt with all of these same questions myself... For future, you can instruct your clients to have the framer leave off the backing paper (or ask the framer directly if you've got a relationship with them) so that the painting is easy to remove 6 months later. (You may also want to check at the same time that your framer is using rabbet 'frame sealing' tape along the rabbet of the frame to prevent acid migration from the frame to the canvas....) The framer may be willing to just apply the backing for you 6 months later once the painting's varnished... Or you can get acid free frame backing paper from Dick Blick (and double sided tape) and put it on yourself. It's also good to put some vents or a cut-out in the back so that the painting can breathe.
If you're trying the GamVar for the first time, it's pretty straight forward to make... and the mixture with the 2 teaspoons of beeswax that I was so stressed out about earlier in this thread, I did wind up testing and using on a couple of my favorite paintings and they turned out beautifully. I've been offering clients a choice of finish... Glossy (straight GamVar), 'Satin' (the GamVar/2tsp Beeswax mix), and 'Matte' (which is actually the Golden's 'Satin' spray varnish but sure looks matte to me!) I've made up little sample cards of each finish on 5x7" gessobords and let the clients choose from there. So far every client has chosen the GamVar/beeswax mix.
The GamVar seems much more forgiving than other varnishes I've worked with... so I no longer stress out as much about applying the varnish itself, just dust/vacuum real well first and keep the cats out of the room while it's drying to prevent unintended little additions to the finish!.
Good luck!
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