After applying the Sennelier gloss varnish on well-cured, heavy impasto oil paintings, the varnish clouds and flakes off with the slightest of abrasion. It appears flawed. Why is it not bonding better to the paint? What causes this and how can I prevent it from happening? Is this a defective varnish that can be removed? How would I remove it?
This is a very interesting question and I have not heard of an interaction such as this. As Brian Baade notes, answers to some of his questions would be extremely helpful in getting to the bottom of what may have happened.
I am reaching out to Sennelier now to see if they have any initial thoughts. If you are able to give me the product number for the varnish you used or upload an image, it might assist me. Sennelier makes a number of products called Gloss Varnish and I want to be sure that we are looking into the correct one.
Thank you,
Andrew Cook
Director of Education
Savoir-Faire
What paints did you use? Utrecht, Winton, Windsor-Newton and Daniel Smith
How long is substantial drying? YEARS
How thick is the impasto? Heavy knife work – picture attached
Did you use any intermediate or retouch varnishes or any other layers? No.
NOTE: I’m talking about 40 small works. On 1/3 of these, I tried Gamvar Gloss that beaded and pooled. These came out hyper-glossy.
The rest were pure paint with Senniler gloss varnish only.
First noticed clouding on edges when framing the works.
Varnish lifted and flaked easily with slightest of abrasion, even after several days of drying.
I never experienced this with other varnishes.Oil Painting.JPG
Sennelier and GamvarSennelier Gloss.jpgGamvar Varnish.jpg
I will send a note to our Sennelier/Savoir Faire representative, but in the meantime could you please give us a bit more info? What paints did you use? How long is substantial drying? How thick is the impasto? Did you use any intermediate or retouch varnishes or any other layers?
Additionally, Sennelier’s literature mentions that their gloss picture varnish is resilient yet difficult to reverse. They do not mention which synthetic resin they use so I am unable to offer any hints about removal. To be honest, MITRA does not give out treatment suggestions (and varnish removal is certainly a treatment and often the most precarious). I understand that this is a work painted by yourself but we will have to wait until we have more info before we can even comment.
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