How to remove shiny patches?

[Susan Kuban]

I have applied some dark greens in thick paint that have dried much shinier than the areas around them. I like the texture that exists in these patches, but the shine looks bad against the flat background. I know I could try to oil out the flatter areas, but really the entire painting is fairly flat. It's the shiny spots that are the negatives, not the flat areas. Can anyone suggest how to remove the shine?

Thanks, Susan

[Richard Budig]

Don't they make flat, or matte varnish? Maybe it's just my imagination.

Is it that you like the flat look? I've always liked that rich, juicy look you get in the final varnish. When I'm doing a painting that goes on for days, I enjoy givng it its daily spritz of retouch varnish so I can see all those values getting rich and jumping back into place. Again, that's just me.

Beyond finding a "dull" varnish, I don't know what else to do.

[Terri Ficenec]

Hi Susan--
You haven't said if you're finished with the painting yet or not...? but if it's ready for varnishing, Golden's makes an archival spray varnish in either a gloss, satin, or matte finish. When I want a matte finish on a painting. I use their satin spray and it turns out quite nicely. I haven't tried their 'matte'... but the satin seems pretty 'matte' to me without being 'flat' and gives a nice even finish.

[Bianca Berends]

Hi Susan,

Use a thin layer of retouching varnish. This will allow you to continue with the painting without the shiny spots. This is a result of using different amounts of turpentine when mixing colors and thinning the paint.

Good luck!