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Old 06-19-2005, 12:18 AM   #13
Virgil Elliott Virgil Elliott is offline
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Lacey,

You didn't say how recently the picture in question was painted. Oil paint takes a good while to cure, months after it seems to be dry, and it is best not to varnish it until it's fully cured. A premature varnishing interferes with the process of curing, which involves the incorporation of oxygen into the paint layer. Gamvar should be used at the strength that results from adding the precise amount of solvent that's in the bottle that comes with it to the resin crystals in the jar. I wouldn't recommend using it in any other way.

Whether diluted damar used as a retouch varnish would prove problematic in the long run would depend on several things, but if the painting is important to you, it would be best to leave damar out of it, and let it cure for several months before giving it a final varnishing with Gamvar. Don't be in too big a hurry to show it, if it doesn't look good without varnish on it. Six months goes by pretty quickly.

Virgil Elliott
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