Thank you, Mark! I am glad you enjoyed this video!

Can one use dorlands wax over gouache like you can with watercolor?

@@paintingtheskykingdom9005yes you can!

Thank you so much, Debi! I am so glad you like my teaching style 😊

Thank you so much, Faridah! I am glad you have found the video helpful!

Thank you, Maria! I am so glad that you enjoyed the course! I love the velvety look of gouache too. I would recommend you try Golden MSA Matte varnish. I tried it after finishing this video and found that it is even more matte than the Talens one that I used in the video. It makes the surface of the painting really matter while keeping the colors clean and vibrant. I love it.

Can you varnish with an matte varnish aerosol made for acrylics?

I am glad you enjoyed it! Thank you!

I’ve just signed up for the course after viewing this tutorial on varnishes for gauche paintings and thanks for the PDF, too! So pleased your tutorials/workshops are in closed-caption/subtitles! Looking forward to getting started!

I am very glad you enjoyed this video, Paul! Thank you for your sweet compliment. I appreciate it 😁

I am happy you have found this information helpful, Betty! ❤️

Thank you, Andrew! I am glad this tutorial was helpful!

Thank you, Cristina!

I am glad it was helpful, Sheila. Thank you!

Thanks very much for your kind words, Anne! I am happy you enjoyed this video!

Thank you so much, Katie! I am glad you enjoyed this tutorial 😊

I am glad it was helpful, Andrew!

I am glad your enjoyed this tutorial, Christine! I too love how gouache paintings look after varnishing and am going now to varnish all of my gouache paintings :)

☺️ thank you! I am glad you enjoyed the video!

I am glad you enjoyed this video and found it helpful, Helen!

Thank you! I love those frames too!

Thank you, Lin! I am very glad it was helpful to you 😊

Thank you so much 😊

Thank you! I love the look of the gloss varnish too!

Thank you so much for your kind words, Cynthia. I am very glad you have enjoyed this video and found it helpful!

Glad it was helpful, Karen!

I am very glad this video was helpful to you, Jessica! I still use this method of varnishing and it works great. Thank you for you kind words 😊

I am glad the video was helpful for you, Maria 😊

I am very glad you found this tutorial helpful, Colleen! 😊

Thank you so much, Caroline! I am so glad you have found this tutorial helpful. I apply this method of varnishing to all my new gouache paintings now and it works perfectly every time. Varnish makes the gorgeous gouache colors even more vibrant and beautiful which was a surprise for me when I first started to varnish my gouache paintings :)

Благодарю ☺️

thank you, Lori :) I am glad you have found my videos helpful. I use Canon 80D to record my process.

I am glad you have found this information helpful, Sabina. You are right, this method of varnishing might be suitable for watercolor too. Although, I would test it thoroughly on rejected watercolor paintings before varnishing a finished piece because varnish can change the appearance of unpainted paper making it look greasy like oil does. Not all varnishes do that but some do.

@@LenaRivo , yes I saw looks much better , it increases the contrast and colors look shine better. Love it.

Thank you! I am glad you have enjoyed this video. With gouache, I use brushes for acrylics and mixed media. My favorite brushes are Raphael Precision flats and small rounds, but I also use Da Vinci junior synthetic flats. All synthetic brushes wear out quickly so there is no need to buy expensive brushes. Most brushes for acrylics will do for painting with gouache as well.

I am glad you enjoyed this video. Yes, that blue background in the orchid painting changed in value significantly, but now I feel that the painting looks as I intended it to be. I painted that background with a dark gray-indigo blue but when it dried it became much lighter. Varnish makes colors in gouache paintings look wet which means that the colors start looking as they looked when I mixed them on my palette. I can’t say that any of the paintings that I varnished look worse now than they looked before varnishing. Contrasts in that orchid painting became stronger but all the colors are there and I think the painting looks great. Although, I must admit that varnishing gouache paintings is a bit scary when you do that for the fish time as the dark and middle value colors change in value significantly.

I am very glad you found this information helpful 😊

@@LenaRivo most definitely! :D

I have never used it (to be more specific, I have avoided using it), so I don’t have a certain opinion about it. I don’t know if an isolation coat would adhere to a wax medium layer and even if it would adhere to it waxes are somewhat sensitive to the ambient temperature changes, so it doesn’t seem a good idea to use them for a coat that comes in direct contact with a gouache painting. A wax medium certainly can’t be an isolation coat because it can be dissolved with solvents. Probably, it can be used as the final removable coat, but I wouldn’t used it for the first two coats.

Thank you 😊 The Daler Rowney watercolor brushed varnish that I used for the first coat in this video should be cleaned off with alcohol. The Winsor and Newton gloss varnish that I used for the final removable coat has be cleaned off with turpentine or mineral spirit. I am not sure what W&N watercolor varnish is, but if it can’t be removed with mineral spirit or turpentine then alcohol has to be used. Soap for brushes is usually used after you have cleaned them with the right solvent. Thus for example an oil painter has to first clean their brushes with mineral spirit or turpentine and only then use soap. I hope this help :)

Exactly, gouache paints dissolve in water and since the varnish that I applied directly to my painting was not water-based the painting layer didn’t react to it in any way :)

@@LenaRivo I see that now. Although later on in the video you mentioned an acrylic varnish you could dilute with a little water, but you used the one for oil and acrylics. I would probably be a bit unwilling to put water with it myself but I think I will try the ones you used. I have a gouache painting that I need to seal for an exhibition in January so it's been very helpful to see what you have used and the results 😁

@@LenaRivo I see that now. Although later on in the video you mentioned an acrylic varnish you could dilute with a little water, but you used the one for oil and acrylics. I would probably be a bit unwilling to put water with it myself but I think I will try the ones you used. I have a gouache painting that I need to seal for an exhibition in January so it's been very helpful to see what you have used and the results 😁

Sarah Churchill hi Sarah. I only said that water-based polymer varnishes can be used for the final coat. You don’t need to dilute them. Water-based varnishes can only be applied to the isolation coat. They can’t be applied directly to a gouache painting. As for the exhibition, I would recommend you learn more about their ruler/policies, if varnished gouache paintings will be accepted because, for example, some watercolor competitions do not accept varnished watercolor paintings.

Ah, it’s golden soft gel gloss medium needs to be diluted with water if you want to use it for the isolation coat, not the varnish.

Hi John! I am glad you found the video helpful. You don’t need that Daler-Rowney varnish. It’s really difficult to find, even in Europe. You can use any mineral spirit brushed varnish with the same success. For example, Golden MSA brushed varnish or Golden Archival Aerosol varnish. They both can be used for the first and third coats (with the isolation coat applied in between). Also W&N Artists Gloss varnish can be used the same way. A couple days ago I applied Golden MSA Matte brushed varnish directly to one of my gouache paintings and it dried into an invisible layer without changing the values in the painting. That’s not quite an archival solution but it still works and looks fantastic :)

:) You can sign up for the pdf at this link: color-mastery.com/varnishing-gouache-paintings

Hi Felipe, this complex varnishing process might be necessary only for artists who sell their paintings and would like to make them more archival and fully restorable. The final coat should be removable for restoration purposes. Over decades, simple dust can create corrosion on the surface of the varnish and if the varnish is removable it can be renewed. So this varnishing process makes varnished gouache paintings more archival. If you apply the third coat directly to the first coat the third coat won’t be removable. The isolation coat (the second coat) is what makes it possible for the third coat to be removed. You can, absolutely, use just one coat of varnish or wax varnish if you only want to protect your paintings from moisture. I have never tried wax varnish because I know that wax reacts to the ambient temperature changes which means it can become softer then the temperature is high. I don’t like that. I would rather choose a single coat of any archival non-yellowing varnish. Also, I store and sell most of my gouache paintings unvarnished. I like the velvety finish and chalky look of unvarnished gouache paintings. Although, dark paintings benefit a lot from varnishing, they become brighter and more colorful.

@@LenaRivo thank you so much for your response. It helped me a lot. now I have the information I need to make a decision about my paintings. Thank you again.

Hi Katerina, I have never used Dorland’s wax or any other wax to seal my gouache paintings and I wouldn’t recommend it for the process I described in this video (unless you use wax as the final removable coat) because wax by nature never really dries, it only hardens and it stays reactivate to the ambient temperatures which means that in hot conditions it can become softer. I am aware that many painters use waxes to seal their paintings. While it’s totally okay to seal an oil painting with wax (because it can be removed at any time), sealing a gouache painting with wax doesn’t seem right to me. It’s only my opinion though. I prefer using varnishes to seal my paintings.

Thank-you so much Lena Rivo for your prompt answer and information on this subject, I truly appreciate this. I have used the wax on the watercolors and I like the effect, I was just wondering if gouache would act differently. I might try a small sample just to see. However, wax as a final varnish is also a good idea…at least it seems to me something to try as well. Thank-you and have a wonderful day!

In that regard, you definitely can use wax for sealing gouache paintings just like you use it with watercolor paintings. It will make the colors richer and it will darken the values (which every varnish does too) , but since you already used it you should be aware of those effects. Testing first is always a good idea :)

@@LenaRivo Thank-you…I will test it. I am happy to have found your channel.

Hi Lindsay, I am glad the video was helpful. When I paint on watercolor boards or mat boards I do not seal them before painting on them. I seal the back and the sides of the board only when I ship the painting away or put it in a frame. Before that I store all my paintings in plastic sleeves. Lately I use the acrylic matte medium from Liquitex to seals the backs of my paintings because depending on the layer thickness PVA glue can slightly bend the board (if only one side of the board is covered with the glue). Acrylic mediums don’t do that (although some of them can stay sticky after drying so testing is always necessary). The acrylic medium makes the back and the sides of the board waterproof. I do not paint with gouache over the glue. Gouache likes an absorbent support. In fact, I find that 100% watercolor paper (or board with a similar surface) is the best for painting with gouache.

I have mentioned wax mediums in the pdf. I don’t think they are suitable for this three-step varnishing method. Maybe only as the final removable coat, but not for the first and second coats.

Gotcha! Thanks!

Thank you, David! I am glad you found this tutorial helpful. You can use Golden Archival Gloss spray varnish instead of the Kamar varnish. (For some reason I like Golden varnishes more). It will make the colors in your paintings richer and more vibrant, but you may need to apply it in a couple of layers to achieve an even coat similar to the one a brushed varnish can produce. The Kamar varnish would have the same effect. I have never tried the Maimeri varnish for gouache and tempera. It should work too, so you definitely could give it a try. I don’t know any other brushed varnishes for watercolor and gouache. Although, I think that Golden MSA brushed varnish should work for gouache too because Maimeri is also a mineral-spirit varnish. If it works for gouache Golden MSA Gloss should work too, but this is just my assumption. I am not 100% sure. The Golden brand recommends using their Archival Gloss spray varnish to varnish watercolor painting. Any gloss varnish will make your paintings more colorful and bring back the dark values. I have noticed that paintings with mostly dark and middle-values shapes benefit the most from varnishing. I hope this helps :)

@@LenaRivo Wow, such an amazing answer, thank you Lena. I was wondering after checking out the golden brand varnish, it normal for it to be removable ? Would you still advice to use that first in your 3 coat process ? And in your experience did you try the krylon UV archival varnish ? It claims many of the same thing as the golden, but is a lot cheaper. Thank you for the support you bring to your community and your generosity, it is much appreciated !

@@lunatikkid I have a can of the Krylon Kamar varnish, but I tried it only once before recording this video. It worked well. After that, I read its reviews on amazon and many people complained that something was wrong with its sprayer. I don’t remember what it was, but I got the impression that many people were not happy with that varnish. This is the only reason I am afraid to recommend it now because I didn’t test my can enough myself. It worked well the first time, though. So, you should probably try it. There are still many more positive reviews on it than the negative ones. Kamar varnish is said to be removable which means you can use it for the first and the third coats. It’s the same for Golden Archival spray varnish because it is removable too. Spray varnishes have to be applied in light coats form a distance, so it is usually necessary to apply two or three coats to get a uniform coverage. In, any case, I would recommend you first test this method and your varnishes on some test pieces (like I did before recoding this video) because this is an involving process and it can take some time to master. Even things like “your working space should be very clean before applying the varnishes” matter a lot because the first two layers can’t be removed, therefore if a fiber or a cat hair gets onto your painting when you are varnishing it you will have to spot and remove it quickly with a needle or something like that. For this reason, “a good lighting and the glasses on” matter too :))

@@LenaRivo Thank you so much ! I will do some test and try all that ! Thanks again for your generous answer !

Hi Patti! Thank you so much for your kind words 😊 You can download the pdf inside the course. In the Welcome module, there is a lesson called How to Varnish gouache paintings. The pdf is attached right under the video in that lesson. A couple days ago I received an email from you and replied to it the same day. Since I didn’t hear back from you, I am not sure if you received the email or not. (My email sometimes go into spam…) If you didn’t receive it please let me know.

Hi Lena! Thank you so much for your prompt reply to my question about the pdf for varnishing gouache. I was able to download it just now. I didn’t receive your earlier email in response to my question about not being able to access the next modules. Would you be kind enough to resend for me? Again, I am so inspired by your work and clear instructions. I have painted for years in acrylic but I am drawn to gouache as a second medium. My goal is to be able to paint light on objects with such brilliance. Thank you for all of your efforts to help me reach this goal. Sincerely, Patti Tapper PS- If you have a moment my work can be seen at pattitapper.com

@@patriciatapper7657 I am glad you were able to download the pdf, Patti! I have just resent the lost email. Your work is beautiful! I love the cleanness of the shapes in your paintings and the strong designs! Gouache is the perfect medium for the painting technique you use and you will be able to apply everything that you will learn in my course in painting will acrylics as well! I hope you enjoy the course 😊