Marvin, Thanks!
I've just visited Golden's site - I was not previously familiar with them. It appears as if they have 2 different types of varnish. . . Polymer varnish (remains soluble with ammonia) or MSA varnish (remains soluble with mineral spirits).
Would you recommend one of these over the other?
Also, have to admit I've already applied the isolation layer of gloss varnish, since I was thinking I'd need it regardless. For future reference though,
does the lack of isolation layer make it more likely that the painting will be damaged if the varnish needs to be removed - or has it been your experience that the varnish can be safely removed even without it?
Also in your experience,
do the Golden varnishes remain 'wet' long enough that visible brushstrokes or fogginess are not a problem when slightly overlapping adjoining areas as you varnish? (The Liquitex varnishes I've tried seem to be very sensitive to this and it makes them downright frightening
to work with sometimes!)
The client in this case is leaning toward satin or matte varnish as the painting will be going in a room with many windows on multiple walls and she really doesn't want to be constantly battling glare. From what I've been reading, either satin or matte varnishes will alter the appearance of darker colors in the painting, lightening them.
How noticeable is this affect and would you avoid a matte varnish because of it?
Again thanks so much for your help!