Warning! Don't use damar as a final picture varish

[Valentino Radman]

I hope I won't sound too knowledgeable if I say that it seems that artistic community knew little about the drawbacks of using dammar up until the 90

[Michele Rushworth]

Virgil, thanks for sharing your expertise with us here. Your contributions are very helpful!

[Allan Rahbek]

Virgil,
I would also like to thank you for sharing your expertise.

Is there any alternative to this Gamvar Varnish?

Are you familiar with the use of Egg White for varnishing ?

Allan

[Mike McCarty]

I have had good luck (at least within my short artistic life, and in the practical application sense) with this product:

Liquitex Soluvar low viscosity, final picture varnish (matte finish)

and

Liquitex Soluvar final picture varnish (satin finish)

I mix these two products in a 50-50 mixture to attain the degree of matte finish that I like.

The label states that this product is "Pure acrylic spirit varnish."

The label also indicates that it may be diluted with a 25% mixture of mineral spirits or turpentine.

I'm not real sure where this falls in the above discussion. Surely this Gamvar can't be the only acceptable picture varnish.

[Valentino Radman]

Speaking about synthetic varnishes, I found Golden MSA varnish (with UV-filter) to be a very good one, as well. I mix the Gloss and Matte variety in order to achieve the desired sheen.

Btw, Virgil, have you received my private e-mail sent to you on your aol.com account three weeks ago?

[Virgil Elliott]

Originally Posted by Valentino Radman

Speaking about synthetic varnishes, I found Golden MSA varnish (with UV-filter) to be a very good one, as well. I mix the Gloss and Matte variety in order to achieve the desired sheen.

Btw, Virgil, have you received my private e-mail sent to you on your aol.com account three weeks ago?

Valentino,

I just looked for it and could not find it. If you still have it, please send it again. It might have been in with the mountain of e-mails that came in while I was off riding my motorcycle for a few days, and I must have missed it somehow.

Thanks for the reminder about Golden's MSA Varnish. I haven't tried it, but I know Golden's products are top quality, so I'd use it with confidence if I weren't already completely satisfied with Gamvar.

Virgil

[Virgil Elliott]

Soluvar is a good varnish, as long as you like the way it looks. It's what most museums used until Gamvar was invented. Gamvar has the look of damar without the yellow, so the appearance is more appropriate for certain paintings. Soluvar is my second choice.

Virgil Elliott

[Virgil Elliott]

Originally Posted by Allan Rahbek

Virgil,
I would also like to thank you for sharing your expertise.

Is there any alternative to this Gamvar Varnish?

Are you familiar with the use of Egg White for varnishing ?

Allan

Allan,

Yes, I am familiar with egg white as a varnish. It's a terrible idea.

Of course there are alternatives to Gamvar. Golden's MSA Varnish is a good one, which I had forgotten about until Valentino mentioned it, and Liquitex Soluvar. Winsor & Newton's Winton Picture Varnish is also pretty good. Gamvar is my personal first choice, however. It was developed by conservation scientist Rene De La Rie, of the National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Virgil Elliott

[Allan Rahbek]

Originally Posted by Virgil Elliott

Allan,

Yes, I am familiar with egg white as a varnish. It's a terrible idea.

Of course there are alternatives to Gamvar. Golden's MSA Varnish is a good one, which I had forgotten about until Valentino mentioned it, and Liquitex Soluvar. Winsor & Newton's Winton Picture Varnish is also pretty good. Gamvar is my personal first choice, however. It was developed by conservation scientist Rene De La Rie, of the National Gallery of Art, Washington.

Virgil Elliott

Virgil,
thank you for your reply,
I remember trying the Egg White Varnish many years ago on a couple of paintings. I washed the painting with hand soap before varnishing with White + water and I thought that it was fine, but I don

[Tricia Migdoll]

Hi Virgil,
How would you rate Blockx Varnish.?