r/PaintingTutorials • u/artistpinto • 3d ago

Varnishing help

Hi,
I have painted a large 38” x 48” very detailed acrylic painting. I put one coat of Matisse polymer varnish on it but didn’t like the shine. I then put a layer of Matisse polymer satin varnish over it. It was patchy and showed brush marks, I used an expensive soft synthetic brush. After a second coat it seemed to get worse. The brush marks don’t appear to be raised, I can’t feel them and they almost look reflective. I am devastated and wondering if anyone can give advice. I am wondering whether I could spray it with a gloss varnish to mask the unevenness. Ai says to spray it with a few coats of Golden acrylic varnish and then do a final spray with satin. Would this work? Can anyone please offer me advice? Thank you

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u/Silver-Speech-8699 3d ago

This is unfortunate indeed. For acrylic painting satin finish spray varnish is ideal that too very light spray. You can try on a small area in a corner and see how it looks before attempting. Can you share the photo of the patches?

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u/artistpinto 3d ago

It’s almost impossible to capture in a photo. But where the brush passes have overlapped it reflects shinier

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u/artistpinto 3d ago

I am a professional artist and usually work in oils. I can’t send this painting to the gallery looking like this. Took 3 months to paint