October Nor'easter & My Opinions on Varnish

We're having a nor'easter today! I wouldn't want one every day and I know that they can cause serious damage; but they do force me to stay inside, stay cozy and slow down a little. For that reason, I love the occasional gale.

Today's a Sunday, too, and as I don't have any other chores to perform I took the opportunity that the inclement weather presented to make another scrap paper collage. Lately I've been enchanted with blue/yellow/purple/orange/green combinations (did I leave any colors out?) and those are the scraps I chose to glue together today. When it dries, I can cut shapes from this scrap collage to utilize in "real" artwork.

I also worked on three little pieces that I started last week. They are nearing final stages and are currently undergoing coats of varnish. When I switched to wrapped canvases as my support (instead of making my collages on paper and framing them under glass) I realized that I would need to varnish my artwork in order to protect the papers from the elements.

I originally used Liquitex acrylic varnish. I start with two coats of gloss varnish to protect the color and then finish with a coat of matte; unless of course, I'm looking for a high gloss finish. Sometimes I'll leave sections of my collage with a gloss finish to let them stand out from the background.

Later I switched to Lascoux. I learned that Lascoux has UV filters in their varnish and I'm hoping that those filters will help to keep colors from fading over time. Quite by accident I discovered another difference between the Liquitex and the Lascaux varnishes. I mistakenly picked up my Liquitex matte varnish for my final coat on a couple of the pieces I was working on last night and this morning realized that the final finish was very different than what I was used to. I discovered that the Liquitex matte varnish dries to a very flat finish, while the Lascaux matte varnish is more of a satin finish. The satin finish gives my artwork a subtle glow and makes the papers appear more like fabric; a look that I really like. So... for that reason alone I would choose the Lascaux over the Liquitex even though it's somewhat more expensive. Needless to say, I applied a final coat of Lascaux to the pieces I varnished last night.

I'm not a paid spokesperson for Lascoux, this is just my own personal observation and I thought I'd share it. ;-D

In a couple of days I hope to share my new finished pieces with you.