How to Varnish Your Painting

I remember the first time I attempted to varnish one of my paintings.

It was a large portrait on hardboard, about 48″ tall. Having just done some mural work with a well known muralist, I attempted to copy his method of using a household paint roller and a clear coat.

It was a disaster.

The medium looked so milky white while it was drying, that I started to panic like Rowan Atkinson did in the movie “Bean” when he sneezed on Whistler’s Mother. I tried to clean off the half dried medium with a damp towel. To my dismay, the medium started globbing up and totally distorted the fine detail work on the surface. Some areas had no varnish. Other areas were covered with a streaky, bumpy film. My painting was a hideous mess.

I said I would never varnish a painting again.

Except that I did.

I knew I needed to learn how to do it correctly in order to protect my paintings from dust and debris, saturate the colors and dark values more, and give it a uniform finish.

What I’m going to teach you is the process I learned basically from trial and error over the years.

I’m not scared to varnish any more. But I like to say a quick prayer before I put brush to canvas, because if you don’t varnish correctly, you can mess up a good painting very quickly!

Here’s a video that will show you the correct way to do it…

Here are the steps, simplified.

1. Use acrylic matte varnish. Not matte medium. (unless you want a flat finish) Matte varnish dries to a satin sheen and looks fantastic. If you want a little more saturation on your dark values and colors, you can add some gloss medium to your matte varnish and mix them together very thoroughly.
2. Put your painting on a flat table, or slightly angled. Don’t varnish the painting on a vertical easel or you could get drips and it will look terrible.
3. Use a 1″ or larger flat brush that’s in good condition. Put your varnish in a cup or container than is wide enough to accommodate the brush.
4. Dip the brush into the varnish and apply from top down, left to right, overlapping slightly. Do not overbrush!
5. Continue the process all the way down and when you’re done, leave it alone for a couple hours. It should dry completely clear.

That’s all there is to it!

What do you think? What are YOUR experiences with varnishing? Do you have any stories–or tips–to share? Do you avoid varnishing completely?

Let me know how this tutorial helps.

All the best,

P.S. Did you find this post helpful or encouraging? If so, send it on ahead! Let others know with the share buttons below. I’d love to hear your comments. Thank you so much! Also, do you have a question on acrylic portrait painting you’d like answered? Let me know, and I’d be happy to help!