This HAS TO BE one of the most valuable lessons an oil painter could have!... I've already ruined one painting and didn't know why... now I do. What a headache this avoids in the future is priceless. As always, THANK YOU SO MUCH for the info! You're one of the best! & I loved the gallery paintings!
Florent, I have followed you for years, and am so appreciative of your contribution to the art community. Congratulations on your solo show. It is well-deserved. Tout à vous
I'm one of your follower, I'm so gratefull watching every topics and different subjects you share..Congratulations for your coming exhibition. More Power 👍
I came across this just as I had "been lazy" and left a painting unattended for 6 months! Sure enough a tiny area was beading. This has saved my painting! Such valuable information about surface tension and other things I would not have considered. thank you!
Thank you for this video. I have ran across this several times and Gamblin suggested scrubbing the Gamsol into the surface like you recommended. What I never heard before this video was the "reason", the Closed surface; also I never oiled out before applying a the Gamsol. I am indebted! Thank you again!
love the gently spoken 'brush lightly' accompanying timelapse-rapid brushing! if your last layers were using linseed oil with no solvents, should you be oiling out with just linseed oil? Is it possible to oil out too much? A recent painting with a lot of layers seems to require more than one oiling out.
Florent, you are awesome! My colors have sunken and your video explained the technical. Thank you so very much! Congratulations on Paris Exhibition. How long do I wait after oiling out before adding varnish. Thank you.
Great helpful video. What camera gear are you using, the quality is superb. All the best and I hope to see your paintings if I can visit France when your show is on 😊
Oh, interesting. I had this issue with droplets on a larger oil painting that melted a bit in summer while drying 🙈 That probably caused a very smooth surface.
I have paintings which have dried for several years. Can I oil out these paintings? How long do I need to wait until I can varnish after oiling out? I learned for your video so much,thanks!
Wuut!? Surely this is nor your first solo show in general. Still, I can't believe you haven't had multiple ones in Paris by now! Thanks so much for this information. I haven't heard of oiling out with the same medium you used, though it seems like an understandable step🤦🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️😂
What's the difference between Gamblins satin varnish and the method you described of adding the wax to the gloss version? Just curious thank you🙏 congrats on the show! I hope it goes well, thank you for being a constant source of inspiration and knowledge
6 months to a year to cure is insane. Just glaze them, they make low-reflective glass now. The painter Francis Bacon didn't varnish and glazed everything, and he hated the reflections and wished for non-reflective glass (he missed it by about 10 years) but considered it worth it. If it's one you really, really care about, I'd seal it behind glass with spacers to keep the canvas from touching the glass an to give it a slight 'glass box' look. Paintings behind glass look amazing.
One thing to keep in mind, at least with the spray varnish, is the temperature of the can. If you are in a cold environment you need to run the can under warm water to warm it up, or might not spray evenly.
Very helpful, thank you! I hope your exhibition goes well also. One of my relatives wants me to make a painting for them and I’m trying to figure out if there is a way to do a temporary finish and how to ship a painting. Do you have experience with this?
A temporary finish would be retouching varnish, acting as a protective layer before final varnishing time, it can be shipped with retouching varnish on.
@@FlorentFargesarts You are such a blessing to me and one of two of my main go-to people for advice (but the other guy does landscapes). I have binge-watched you so much! Thank you for your help and I’m praying for Europe this Winter and for you.
im trying to remove a yellow stain think from smoke which is all over a painting that I like, any idea what aught to use to remove Yellow stain please.
So you don't recommend oiling out having already varnished and touch varnished after having discovered sunken areas quite late in the game. I wonder what I can do in such a situation then without getting too complicated. Also, I've used refined linseed oil to oil out a normal painting as recommended by other videos - does the refined linseed oil have to be mixed with any other medium? Appreciate your tutorials.
I’m wondering the same as i oil out only with standard refined linseed oil too. I’m not a fan of theses toxic oil mediums that accelerate drying time and If I can avoid putting solvent on my painting I avoid. Let me know if you find the answer.
@@elylab9557 I've continued with my regular oil out process without additional medium. I've discovered that it's beneficial to leave the refined oil to dry a bit. It never does so completely. After a few days I proceed to varnish. Also, I realized that on one painting which showed an extra glossy portion and which was not oiled out, the glossy area was eventually absorbed into the painting. Completely normal now. Good luck!
Hi Florent. I wanna ask you if i can apply only linseed oil (and then wipe it out) in a white canvas before i paint on it (not underpainting with some color) to make my brushstroke more easier to run? Do you have any tips for that or is ok or not to do that? Thanks
I have used both Gamvar, more recently, and Damar picture varnish for years. Gamvar is extremely problematic so why even bother, plus my paintings do not look as good with it. I do not know why Gamvar is being pushed as a standard now. It was a new product only about a decade ago. Plus now they tell us it needs to be 'fresh', i.e. bought within months of applying. Well, my bottle does not have a 'best by' date on it so I have no idea how old it is. I say avoid it.
@@FlorentFargesarts quick question, after removing the varnish (it came off pretty easy using GAMSOL) and oiling out the painting (50% refined linseed oil - 50% Gamsol) how long do you normally wait to try to apply the varnish again?. It is my first time doing this and I don´t have it very clear. Thank you!
Thank you! I'm a professional oil painter and you've just taught me things I never knew about varnish and oiling out sunken-in colors. I wasn't even taught to varnish my paintings in college classes or in my mural apprenticeship so I kinda just figured out some of it on my own, but apparently incorrectly. Now I regret doing this wrong on some sold commissions, I am guilty of having thought the varnish would fix my sunken-in colors. What happens when you skip the oiling out? Do the paintings end up looking matte in the dark areas again over time? It makes me sad that my older work might be looking shabby 😢
TERRIBLE advice. Don't oil out your painting after it's finished, that will only create a weak film of oil/medium which will yellow overtime. Just wait for as much as necessary depending on the thickness and the materials you painted with -6 to 12 months, usually- and then apply one to three coats of final varnish (better start with a gloss varnish). Sinking in should rather be prevented, than clamsily fixed before applying a final varnish.
How long do you need to let the painting dry after you oil out before you can apply varnish? I’m new and all of this information is so valuable! Thank you 🙏🏼
Congratualtions on your upcoming show! It looks amazing...If possible, it would be great if you took a video camera around it and gave us a personal tour... for those of us, too far to come in person. Thanks for the beading up tricks, I've experienced beading up just recently. :)
Wow, thank you! I’ve been researching how to varnish an oil painting and no one else had explained the importance on oiling out a painting before you varnish it. This has probably saved me some future disappointment and confusion
What pigments have you found most likely to need oiling out? For me, one of the worst offenders was Winsor & Newton's Paynes Gray, which would become very dull when dry. I don't even use it anymore. As a watercolor, Paynes Gray is wonderful. As an oil paint, Paynes Gray is to be avoided unless you are willing to give it extra care. Sometimes, Vandyke Brown can need similar post painting treatment.
This confirms some of the things I have had issues with... so many people give advise that counters what other information I knew about other products. Beading up is commonly misinterpreted to be a problem with the way someone is applying the varnish, when its a problem is the oil surface. When I suggest a fine pumice polish using water and and a soft rag, and everyone always freaks out and calls me an idiot. I am pretty sure that is not the case, they are the idiots, most of their solutions are various versions of crude "sanding" of the surface with nontraditional sanding implements (such as a stiff brush or some form of etching using mineral spirits) to facilitate bonding of the varnish. The community ignorance surrounding this is amazing to me and left me quite salty. Thank you for clarifying the issues here!
Hi Florent, I found that I always have dull/sinkin areas in my painting even though I'm using high oil content colors and mixed with the solvent free gel. I also used a non-absorbent ground, but I will paint a wash layer sketch with quite much solvent. Do you think the wash layer is the problem of causing sinkin result? What would u recommend if I really need to do a washy effect drawing before the main layers? Using washy acrylic paint? Or just do the oil out for every painting with solvent free fluid?
i have a more easy solution,when you are in the process of painting layer over layer and you start a new layer and the oil doesn't stick to the surface you are about to paint spray on glass cleaner and wiped out gently with a soft paper until it dries then try to apply again the oil and ...TADA'!!Magic!! I want money for this valued tip!!! joking!!
I have had problems with oil and varnish beading up on several of my paintings and never knew how to fix the problem. Thank you so much for the information!
Thank you so much for all the detailed and well-explained information. I am going to watch this vid again in a few days - so much to learn here!. I had horrible beading up issues a few years back when I was using a lot of Stand Oil - ugh. Now I love to use the Gamblin Solvent-Free Gel and also Rublev's Oleogel. I will try the oiling out procedure soon and before I use Gamvar.. So glad to have found your channel.
Thank you for sharing this information. You're correct, it is not an issue that is talked about by artists very often and even product manufacturers don't provide much information. I've never seen anyone suggest the gentle abrasion method or note the importance of using the same medium used in the painting. I also didn't know that it becomes more challenging the longer a painting sits which is making me consider varnishing my paintings before they are sold. Very useful info!
Great info! Sooooo....I haven't painted for 13 years!!! 😱 And I never varnished the paintings I painted back then, but I would like to varnish them...will that be a problem? I assume I will, for sure, need to oil them out. I'll be getting back into painting in just a few weeks (Jan 2023). I have the opportunity to set up a small studio for myself...I'm very excited!!!
Thank you so much for such a great lesson! ❤️I always enjoy and learn a lot from your videos😊 I have a question about varnishing mixed media! Incase using oil for painting subject + acrylic or gold leafs in background , what kind of varnish can we use for that?
It’s unfortunate that you didn’t seem to know about the potato technique. Salvador Dali mentions it in his book ‘50 Secretos Magicos Para Pintar’ and I’ve been using it consistently since the early ‘80s with no ill effects whatsoever. I usually pre-empt any possibility of beading paint/ varnish by going over the area I intend to work on for that day’s session. That way I never encounter any beading. 1. Get a small Russet potato, or just any small potato. 2. Slice it in half with a sharp knife to create a smooth and flat surface on the potato slice. 3. Next, I always bevel the edges so the potato skin can’t come into contact with the painting and scratch it. 4. I then get a couple of paper towels that have been soaked in water and wrung out so they are merely damp. 5. Making sure the paint is dry where you want to apply the potato, start with smooth, circular motions, ironically, like waxing a car. 6. You don’t need too much pressure, just enough to make the surface a bit slippery. The potato slice starts to dry out pretty quickly, so I usually have more than one slice ready to go. 7. There should be only very slight traces of potato debris left on the canvas/ panel/ board. No big deal. 8. Now use the damp paper towels to clean off any leftover residue. Make sure the area is very clean and the potato has been completely removed. 9. Wait a few minutes for it to dry. 10. Then go over the now dry area with a soft bristle brush to get rid of any lint or dust that may be left from the paper towel. And you’re ready to paint/ oil out/ varnish completely free from beading! It’s cheap, easy, takes only a couple of minutes, and is thoroughly effective. And because the potato is relatively soft compared to dry paint, there is no abrasion or marring of the paint. This technique was one of the very first tricks I learned when I started painting, and it has served me well ever since. If you give it a try, I suspect you may add it to your toolbox too. Well-wishes to everyone from Ireland!
Thank you for all your wonderful videos. I have learned so much. You go into such depth. I was wondering where you can buy Gamblin in Europe. I haven’t found it in Sweden and I had to make my own cold wax. Are there any webshops in Europe? Love from Stockholm
Im not a big fan of Gamvar picture varnish. Personally, I find it's too much like water. Second, you have to know that linseed oil is like glass when it dries. Especially if you use a bit to much linseed oil. I find it best to use a more thickly and sticky gloss varnish applied thinly. That is why the stand oil worked instead of refined linseed oil.
Is it bad if I varnished my painting after the paint cross linked? Should I try to remove it now or just wait a bit and out another layer because I managed to make it don't look so bad and the dry places are really small lines.
I am a fairly newcomer to oil painting techniques so this was an invaluable video. To spend literally hours in creating a piece and then potentially ruining it is frustrating. I wasn't aware of oiling out pigments that soaked into the canvas and thought that the dull areas would be revived by varnishing.....big mistake. Now I have to somehow remove the varnish to oil out.....any ideas on doing this. Many thanks.
Great useful video! Thanks :) Do you know what can be done if a layer of varnish had been already applied, but some matte areas have appeared and differ in gloss? I suppose oiling out will not work since there's already a layer of acrylic resin, should I try to apply more varnish onto these areas or delete the varnish (the most undesirable option, obviously)? Or probably you can suggest something else. Thanks.
This was very useful. One of my paintings beaded up when I tried to varnish it. All the varnish went to the outside edges. I used very soft tiny smooth brush strokes to paint it. I am too scared to try and fix it!
I wonder if anyone has tried mixing Gamvar varnish with Oleogel to increase the viscosity and hopefully avoid beading. I’ve had disastrous luck with Gamvar but I’d love to be able to use it because the painting only has to be touch dry.
Thank you very much for this valuable lesson. I was just trying to figure out how to fix those areas before varnishing my works. My doubt, although you mention it in the video, is if I have used liquin, although in the last layers the amount is very small, only with the finest details. For oiling out, should I reduce the liquin with gamsol as well? Or just using liquin is ok? Thanks a lot! And I adore your work❤
I have an Icon which has a mixture of stand oil and linseed oil mixed as the instructor showed me in class. This one (out of 12 Icons) has separated and dried to a variety of orange thick droplets and dull areas, what do I do? I noticed this after hanging it and going through a climate change when I moved from a cold Vermont to a hot and humid Alabama USA. I have been using my nails to scrap off this oil drips only when my nail is flat to the painting and I glide it along. My instructor says he never had this problem. I don't know what to do?
Hi....I did my oil painting on ivory sheet directly without any base....can I varnish it? Actually It was my first time doing an oil painting, so I wasn't aware of all requirements and the whole process
I had a problem with the paint coming off and mixing with the varnish. My work is completely dry. Why is this? Or is it possible that the top layer I added has less oil than the bottom layer? Often I have to reapply the work after the varnish.
Hi I have made a mistake while spraying satin varnish on an acrylic painting. I felt the spray was dripping and i tried to remove with turpentine. I did one coat of varnish. Now I womdering what do I do?
Just had this problem yesterday and never knew why my oil beed up because I also 'forget' about older paintings and may come back after a year. One question tho. How you clean your brush after varnishing? I use thinners but what I get is a gooey mess on my brush so I squeez it out and try solvent again and then hot water and soap but it doesnt help much. Thanks
Bonjour Florent, merci pour tes vidéos, elles sont très instructives ! J'ai quelques questions auxquelles tu pourras peut-être répondre... Quel genre de pinceau utilises-tu pour vernir ? J'ai l'impression qu'un pinceau avec des poils synthétiques laissera moins de marque sur la surface. Ensuite, comment les nettoies-tu ? Vu la taille de ces brosses je trouve incommode de les plonger dans du mineral spirit. Dernière question, lorsque tu huiles la surfaces pour redonner leur vivacité aux couleurs, combien de temps attendre avant de vernir ? Merci beaucoup. J'ai acheté ta formation il y a quelques années et je vais retourner la voir.
I got a problem and I am not able to fix it I am searching for a solution everywhere but I can't get any. The problem is I varnished my acrylic painting with varnish and it's been a week but it's still sticky I think the varnish was bad but what I do now
Wish I saw that video a few years ago, also got the beading up issue a couple times, very annoying when you don't know. Got lucky fist time, didn't even know what oiling out was then, I did it despite the beading, a bit ugly but I was able to cover it and finish. Made some research the second time and a little sanding greatly improved the oiling out. I also use stand oil but I suspect, at least in my case, the issue was the overuse of Liquin Fine Detail. I reduced the amount and no issue since then. BTW Florent where do you get your Gamvar, can't find any in France lately... Ive found some Regalrez but that's not the whole formula.
This was brilliant! This happened to me be right before a show and I was panicking. I wish I'd known what to do then; I just had to leave it and was pretty embarrassed. (I also enjoyed that you did not have the microphone in view in this video. I often find it distracting and like there's a clear separation between you and the viewer. This video felt more personal and conversational without the mic there.) Excellent tips and tricks and with full, clear explanations, as always. And congratulations on your show! How do you find the time to do all you do?
