Exercise 4.3 Varnishing a tondo.

Make a very fluid painting of any subject on the list. Once this has dried, paint or spray with gloss varnish or nail varnish.

Use any size, any surface, any media.

What effects can you create by applying varnish?

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What purpose does varnish serve?

• It improves the overall quality, visual vibrancy or depth to a painting.

• It protects the surface of the painting from the external environment.

• It creates and even unifying sheen over the surface of your painting.

I read pages 524-525 of The artist Handbook of Materials and techniques this gave me

an overview of the medium I was about to apply to my loose painting.

I chose the open window image below for my loose painting with ink. Strangely the photo is slightly blurred but no matter this piece was loose and fluid anyway.

Experiment 1

Open window loose study.

Ink/ charcoal on A3 paper.

Sprayed with varnish.

The varnish was absorbed straight into the paper.

I reapplied a second coat. It absorbed again, what was I doing wrong?

With research I discovered that drawings on paper, gouache and watercolour work has no layer between the support and varnish. Therefore the paper will 'drink in' the varnish. The piece still has a sheen and the colours are more alive and vibrant than before the spray varnish.

I cropped and added a digital tondo edge.

I returned to this piece after the last experiment and made a more unusual border/tondo edge because during my research the work the Alphonse Mucha had overlapped the tondo edge.

I like the layered transparency of the covered edge because it reminds me again of my jetlag. That feeling of being at home near the open window but so tired sensitive and fragile. I think this piece conveys that with the colours, fragility of mark making and trace elements of sensitive patterns on the curtains (right hand side). I want to make the window more structured possibly, or do I?

I really like the transition of the pale blue areas to the sepia and umber, the softness of the muted bleeds and leaf markings on the curtains.

Experiment 2.

Open window on A4 wood panel

Ground layer of gesso and acrylics with a loose layer of diluted Artgraf.

Because the Artgraf was still slightly wet when I applied the varnish 'the bleed' was just beautiful. The colour combination is vibrant and striking. The visible texture of the brush marks is exciting.

I can add paint on the top of varnish.

I added white gouache for some structure to my window this time. I used masking tape for clean edges.

Must my tondo have a solid outline/border? I experimented with a floral stencil.

I used a acrylic marker pen and made some leaves and flower petals around the edge of the border of the tondo.

I then made a Paynes grey acrylic glaze over the petals so they were still visible underneath.

This sketch on the top of the varnish with dry brush strokes has a certain something. A dreamy, surreal feeling. I like the fact that the tondo edge isn't perfect, it is more of an organic growing edge if that makes sense?

Experiment 3

A3 Open window Dark loose study 2.

Ink on paper.

I only painted the window pane area with a brush and gloss varnish. I wanted to see whether a liquid varnish painted on would be absorbed like the spray varnish.

This causes a matte to gloss effect, the glass pane is shiny the rest of the painting matte.

I cut the edges of the piece into a oval/round shape. Not everything needs to be precise eh?

I used an italic metal ink pen to draw the sensitive lines of the window. I like Alberto Giacometti's line drawings and thought they might evoke that numbed groggy feeling I used to get with jetlag.

This piece again has echoes of an open window, mixed with an unfinished tension which I like.

Experiment 4

Orchids 2

A3 acrylics on watercolour paper.

I wanted to see how the spray varnish would behave on an acrylic painting from a previous exercise. This piece was dilute in areas, thickly painted impasto parts and it would be a good support for the experiment.

Tricky to see in the images bit the acrylic has a glossy rich shine. The colours are now intense and vibrant. The paper has absorbed the varnish without acrylic and so there is a tension between the matt and gloss, but it is graduated.

When I use varnish I need to consider;

What effect am I looking for with the varnish?

Shiny gloss/ high gloss or matte or satin varnish?

Should the varnish application be sprayed or brushed?

Do I want to cause a bleed for a blurred effect?

Do I want the visible brush marks showing?

Do I need to think about whether I am going to varnish it before I paint the picture?

Is the varnish just for protection or effects?

Over time acrylic paint will gather dirt and dust so would it be better to have protection.

Will the colour be protected against UV damage with varnish?

Do I want an even or uniform texture?

Do I want to unify the piece of work?

The brief requests the varnish is applied to a dilute loose painted surface. So I can see the effects of a wet underlayer paint surface instead of dry (see the above bleeding effect.

Before a painting is varnished a drying process must take place this is a much longer process with oil paints.

The paintings and it's support's absorption also comes into play here. Many factors apply to brushed or sprayed varnish, but could the varnish be poured? Chris Ofili uses poured glazes or varnishes in the backgrounds of his work. I like this chaotic layering of mixed media.

Pouring varnish would take too long to dry and set, I believe, using a pouring medium would be more fluid and achieve the best results.

Resins also give that high gloss varnished result and protect the painting's surface. It would be impossible to remove epoxy resin for restoration purposes though. Resin is thicker and brings a more three-dimensional approach to the work.

I understand several methods how to achieve a lustre, depth and vibrancy in my work using varnish.