VARNINSHING my paintings with GAMVAR

Gamblin recommends oiling out before varnishing with gamvar- helps unify it so you wont get beading or uneven sheens

Very helpful thanks, I may try this stuff, I was using a spray damar varnish, fumes made me high..thanks again !

Ty

Beading up is because oiling out has not been done before varnish. A crude trick to stop beading up - cut raw potato in half, and lightly rub on the area that is beading up.

You’re great! I am about to use this exact product on my acrylic painting for the first time! Thank you for the help and advice! Gorgeous

Thanks for info.... I really like your frames. Where do you get them? Thank you.

Why dont you put the picture orizontaly... ? To prevent vertical sinking down...

How long should an oil painting dry before applying Gamvar? I hear it’s 6-12 months for other varnishes.

What Gamvar varnish are you using? Gloss, Satin or Matte?

Hi love your channel! Question? I’ve used Winsor Newton Retouch varnish on a large painting and did it outside because of the stink 😉 The lighting didn’t do me any favours though because I now see I have a very noticeable ridge of dry varnish 😖 am I able to sand just the ridge down and then re apply varnish to that area before I go over the whole painting with the final varnish? I’m a very new painter and it was my first large canvas 40x60 inch. And second question 😂 What is the easiest varnish to use? Do I just use Gamvar? Thanks in advance, I’m very nervous to get this done right 😂

Thank you for a clear and simple demonstration on glazing. I found other explanations so confusing. Oh and I just love that painting with the palm trees.
Wonderful!

Thank you for this🤗

Great content . You ever been told you look like c Thomas Howell ? That’s not a bad thing .

I'm so glad you mentioned the beading-up, it has been driving me nuts! I think it might be one of the brands of oils I use, do you use all the same oils?

Hi Michael...which Gamvar do you use, the Gloss or Satin? Thanks-Greg

Thanks! Also love your frames. Where do you buy those?

Thank you so much! 🙏

Varnish will bead up on paintings that have allot of medium/ dryer in the paint mix. They say you can mix 10% gamsol into it. Haven’t tried that I use the rag too. I also learned that the flat and shiny areas may be due to not ensuring my painting was really dry (weeks to months vs days) some the paint absorbs some of the varnish. Have you tried mixing some of the satin into the gloss. I hear that reduces the over glossy appearance. I tried it on a few things and it seemed inconsistent

I am surprised you do it vertically ..🙃

very helpful and straightforward instructions. we varnished some acrylic paintings with regular varnish from Lowe's and that worked fine but was told not to use a waterbased varnish on oil paintings. this looks like just what we need. worried its a little expensive but you managed to do multiple paintings with just a small bottle so that is cool too. thanks!

Once the matte varnish dries can I varnish again, but with the gloss?

Do you always use glossy gamvar?

Thank you for the explanation. I noticed your frames. Where do you get them?

Where do you get your frames?

Thank you! Didn’t watch you before trying it but luckily I used on practice pieces—I see now my thicker application and smaller brush made a heavier layer. I’m going to go much lighter and use a stain brush on the better paintings. Thanks again!

Can you use that on color pensil drawing?

Just scrub it in good, if by chance that doesn't work, saliva scrubbing with a stiff brush in that area will do the trick, or onion juice. 😊🎨🖌️

Do you ever put on more than one coat??

HELP - tried it first time last night on a new, dry oil painting -- it's cloudy!! What to do? How about the W&N spray varnish?

Cool!😃

I’m getting some of this today. I was using a spray that left a lot to be desired. I love gamblin products. Thanks for the video

what are the frames you use that the paintings are sitting in please ?

how do you construct your painting box..i saw a video of you doing it ,but lost it ?

After varnishing 8 paintings with Gamvar, ( acrylic and oil) all of them became uneven with dull and shiny patches. Had to remove the varnish with Gamsol spirit. Unfortunately, that changed some paintings. Varnished again. Same horrible result. So disappointed!

Nice video. Do you find for protection reasons using the Gamvar vanish if better as opposed to a permanent fixit spray? Also, can the painting dry okay standing up as opposed to lying it down or is lying it down best for even dry time.? Thank you.

Hi, how did you open the bottle of gamvar varnish? 😢 I find it hard to open it

After removing Gamvar varnish, can it be re-varnished with another brand of varnish? If the answer is yes, how long do I have to wait between one process and another?, Thanks!.

for the paintings that bead up, what you can try is "oiling out" or if that doesn't work, using a very high grit sandpaper (like 4000) or a brown paper bag and lightly "buff" out those areas. then try the varnish again.

you could also try thinning the varnish with 10% - 20% gamsol.

Heard mr. Gamblin chatting about the beading up on a podcast.
Advice from website:

“Some combinations of oil paint and mediums create a “closed” surface resulting in Gamvar beading up. Also, beading up may indicate that too much varnish is being applied at once. Try to cover as much of the painting with as little varnish as possible. A vigorous scrubbing motion when applying Gamvar will help prevent it from beading up.

What to do when varnish beads up

Reduce the amount of Gamvar that is being applied to the painting. Blotting extra varnish off the brush onto a paper towel before applying is an excellent way to achieve this.
Dilute the varnish with 10-20% Gamsol.
Brush the varnish vigorously as it dries. Gamvar will begin to tack up in about 15 minutes. Continuing to brush after it begins to tack up may help it to adhere, but it will also reduce its level of gloss the longer you continue to brush it.”

Also do you make your frames?? How? Those are beautiful!

And the beading is a result of polymerization of the oil - possibly even cross linked polymerization - to get the varnish to not bead you have to break the surface tension of the oil.

Ahhh the famous Chinese food container, great stuff! Thankyou!!!

Your video was really helpful. Thank you.

. . . and how long do you wait after painting to varnish?

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Be careful with Gamvar! It’s petroleum based so use it in well ventilated spaces!

I've tried so many different things to stop the "river" of beading on certain sections on two of my paintings. Removed the varnish and reapplied. Light application, fast and random brushing nothing seems to work. It's truly annoying. You mentioned that you take a rag after to you apply the varnish but didn't show it in the video? Do you apply and then just lightly rub the varnish into the painting? Thanks :)

Great tip on the ‘beading’ issue. I’ve had that issue quite a bit because I paint in layers and the process of trying to figure out exactly which medium caused it would be incredibly time consuming, at best. I would have to isolate each product and experiment, yet still in the end not have an accurate result or answer.
Very helpful information on the varnishing process, 🙏

Thank you. This is useful and informative.