The Bottom Line
Pros
- A quality, colourless varnish, which is easy to apply.
- Can be thinned with water, brushes clean with water.
- Can be removed with acrylic varnish remover.
Cons
- Not cheap, shop around for the best price.
- Cannot be used as a medium, as some varnishes can.
Description
- Produced by Winsor and Newton in the UK (www.winsornewton.com)
- Designed specifically to protect acrylic paintings.
- Two coats of varnish are recommended. A coat takes two to four hours to dry.
- Moisten the varnish brush with water before applying the varnish.
- Varnish can be thinned with water if necessary (though I found it fine straight from the bottle).
- Clean varnishing brush with water immediately, before the varnish dries on the brush.
- Varnish can be removed with varnish remover.
Guide Review - Product Review – Winsor Newton Acrylic Gloss Varnish
Winsor and Newton’s acrylic gloss varnish is a quality, colourless varnish that not only protects an acrylic painting from the environment, but brightens the colours in a painting. I found it easy to apply and easy to wash out of a varnishing brush, and to have a very minimal odour. I used the varnish on a very hot day, but had enough working time to ensure that I was applying the varnish evenly before it started to dry.
How far does it go? Well, half a 75ml bottle gave two coats on a 76x50cm painting on canvas board. The result was a smooth, high gloss coating. I’d imagine that if you were varnishing a heavy impasto or a mixed media piece, it would pay to thin the first layer of varnish with a little water to get it into all the ‘nooks and crannies’. It’s not the cheapest varnish around, but I was very pleased with the results after applying two layers to a painting.
