How to Varnish a Watercolour Without Glass 

This was so helpful, thank you! I'm a watercolor artist and I've been desperately looking for a way to varnish my paintings without using those horrible toxic aerosol sprays.

* Dorland’s Wax OR Gamblin’s Wax to protect the painting surface * Stevenson Acrylic Gloss Gel with impasto brush to affix

Excellent advise, presentation and easy to do!!! This is a win-win!! Thank you so much💖

Exactly what I was needing to know and so well presented! Thanks a bunch!!

This may be the most helpful video I've found about protecting and mounting watercolor. Thank you!

BRILLIANT! Thankyou so very much! I'm off to buy both and see which I prefer. Your presentation was lovely, informative and fun and to the point.

Thank you for sharing your wonderful experience and inspiring skills. I really enjoyed watching the video. Very informative.

Hi Kim... you have so resolved my issues on how to preserve “Watercolor “ Art... this was so informative and came at a good time ! Thank you for your tutorials...

Thank you! It looks so great and the process is really easy.

This was so... helpful!!! as a watercolour/mixedmedia artist my framing options where limited to always matting and glass. Thank you for your mounting ideas! It takes a very traditional medium into a new age. It also looks AMAZING!!!

so helpful!! thank you for this tutorial KIM

I am really impressed and inspired by this. Thanks so much!!

Amazing turtorial! Thank you for your help!

Amazing ideas for protecting your painting and also the framing. Thanks so much. Blessings and take care. ❤❤❤

I love this video. Direct and useful helps me a lot thank you.

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. New to watercolor, this video came in divine timing! 💕

Thank you. ❤love how you did this.

So much great information! Thanks!

You explain it very well! Thank you!

Wow thank you this tutorial helps me getting my art work in another level!

This was very informative. I knew there had to be a way. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much! I really never liked having glass, now I don't need to, thanks to your video!

Thank you so much for a great demo!!!!!

thanks for the great useful video on mounting my watercolours without using glass. I've been wanting this knowledge and didn't know where to find it easily.

Dear Kim...that was an awesome piece of advice and I just wanted to say that you have a radiant personality!!

Thank you so much! This waa just what I have been looking for!

Thanks for sharing the technique!

Thank you for making this video. It is very helpful.

I was glad to find this option for framing. I am new at watercoloring but have been framing my work on a stretched canvas with mod podge. Been a good option for me but will try this method as well.

Excellent information.. Thank you so much!

A very good demonstration thank you. Yes I use a similar method but will try the wax when I can buy it. Love your work.

You are an angel for sharing this.

LOVED THIS!!! THANK YOU!!

So incredibly helpful!!!

Excellent! Thank you!!

this is excellent advice, well presented. I'm a picture framer and will tell my regular exhibiting watercolourists about this video.

You just have this happy contagious smile, and beautiful eyes. I came here for the info, which I am grateful for, and am leaving here with a contagious smile too 😊

Thank you for sharing this!!!

Genial!!! Thank you for sharing these tips!

I so much like this. THANKS

Super helpful...thank you!

I loved this video! Thanks so much for making it, it was so informative. :)

Good job! Thanks for sharing

kim, amazing idea! As a Watercolor beginner I have a lot of practice pieces that get better and better. n Now I can protect the and mount them for give aways to family and friends. (Glass is very heavy and dangerous for my heart medication which thins my blood). Perfect with my learned Matting ability. Wonderful narration !

Love this!

That was soooo helpful thank you

Thank you, thank you. I'm self taught and know very little about products, protecting my work or framing. I sincerely appreciate your knowledge and how well you share it. I've learned so much in this short video. I'm off to check out your channel!

This video is amazing thank you so much

This is absolutely awesome! Thank you thank you for sharing 👀I’m your new subscriber 🤗

Thank you! you are awesome!

Excellent video. I normally work in gouache and the same principals apply to varnishing. I'm not familiar with the other brand but have been using Dorland's wax successfully, and don't find that it has any odor. The tips you gave for mounting and framing were exactly what I needed. I'll be coming back to this video when I'm at that stage. Thank you very much. :)

Love it!!!

thanks this is fantastic!

Thank you and I will check out your website.

Thanks for the tips. I always wondered if there was a way.

Very helpful thanks for sharing :)

Awesome!!!

Thy wsss sooo helpful ..thnqqq so much for the video ❤️❤️

Thank you very much. Will the wax-resin coating suffer in hot weather conditions...? Where I live the summer is long and extreme.

Thank you for a very informative video! Could I use this technique with pastels? Could you tell me where could I purchase both frames? Thank you

For long, I struggled with my watercolor PAINTINGS growing mould, until I found cold wax medium. LOVE. 100% recommend this vid. I first learnt about cold wax here

Thank you!

Thank you👍

Thankyou very helpful

Great video! That part about the weights lol

Hi. great video! Can you use gel medium or a simple 'varathane-type' product to coat a painting instead of the pricier waxes? Pros and cons? Thanks!

I have always been so disappointed with the glare glass framing makes. Even with the costly non-glare glass. This is a wonderful way to showcase a revolving watercolor works.

Awesome. Do u think the wax would work on handkerchief canvas done with water soluble mediums like pen, pencil & acrylic paint?

Wow great idea! Where do I get the board you adhered the painting to?

Very instructional, thanks! I've read that it dries only to the hardness of a beeswax candle, which is enough to seal the watercolor, but should still be protected from scratching or scuffing. It's funny, but the can that I have doesn't list the alkyd resin, only wax and OMS, even though product descriptions mention the alkyd resin. Oh well... I guess it's in there!

Wow, this is very useful information .. thanks for sharing!! Can we use mod podge/other glue instead of the gel medium to glue the watercolor paper on the board? Please let me know... TIA :)

Great video Kim. I'm going to wax up some paintings this weekend. 😁 I noticed that you said that this medium was also good for encaustics. I work in encaustics and because both Dorland and Gamblin wax pastes have mineral spirits (petroleum distillate) in them they should never be used with a heat source of any kind. They are highly flammable.

Exceptional video presentation!

Thanks so much for this video. I make my own Christmas cards and gift tags every year and "laminate" them in packing tape, which leaves a line or two. I have been looking for a product like Gamelin but had no idea what to look for or where. This year I wanted to make the envelopes, too. I'm going to try this product when I get started.

Thank you for this!! I'm a beginner painter who started with acrylic on canvas... when I found out you can't really use watercolor on canvas, I panicked lol. Canvases are so much easier to hang.

hi..this was so helpful! I saw another artist use varnish spray first on the painting before the wax..is the needed?

Haven't frame watercolor paintings for worrying on if it be difficult. Thank you for video ! Will give it a try

Instead of using the gel to glue the work to the panel can you use mod podge or Elmer’s glue-all?

Really helpful!

Hi, so helpful. What if the water color paper isn’t flat; will it pop up, or are those waxes strong enough to hold it in place.

This was great! One question is this uv protective?

Does that wax also protect the colors from fading?Thanks!

For gluing the paper to the birch, which works better: heavy gel or regular gel medium?

you are a genius.

Thank you this is helpful, straight to the point and informational. Other jibber jabbish and just talk way too much!

Thank you for this tutorial... Can you please list the exact products you used in the video description? Thank you!

How do you attach that cradled board to the back of the picture frame? Thank you...

I'm new to watercolor, and have just started out with a set of Kuretake Gansai Tambi paints. But, I've learned that they may not be the most lightfast. I plan on using these paints while I get my footing with the medium. Are there any spray varnishes that would work for protecting the watercolor pieces from UV light? I've seen Krylon has a UV Archival varnish spray, but am unsure whether that would work with watercolors. What would you recommend? Thanks in advance! :)

Hi, thanks for your video. Is the wax archival?

Thank you for such a great demo! I can't find Stevenson here in Europe. Would you be able to recommend other brands? Jackson's (UK) offer about 4 brands but I do not know which to go with. :)

Wow

Can this be used with photographs on matte paper as well?

Hi Kim,Thanks for the video,This hopefully will be a game changer for Me,I just set my first small water color up for drying time, I'm going to give it 12 hours just to be sure,I have a couple questions,over the long term How would you rate doing Our watercolors this way ,Customer response,satisfaction etc,I;m also an Airbrush Artist and intend to offer my watercolor as well,I already have some paintings sold and getting good responses on some finished paintings,and I gave them a disclaimer on the waxing and your process opposed to framing and glass prior to the purchase,,I'm waiting on responses from two buyers as we speak,Once again,this process has more pluses that negatives opposed to frames and the ridiculous expenses it incurs,I want and Love to the watercolors hopefully I can get a Niche' doing them this way,Thanks Again.

Fantastic video! I'm so going to try this! Question...what did you use to apply your wax ? It looks like a cloth of some sort...anything special? Thanks so much for sharing 💕

Would contact glue work as well as the gel?

How many coats of wax do you typically use?

I read the wax will harden similar to a Beeswax candle. But what about the dust that will stick to it in time if it is not covered with glass ?

what a great movie. So helpful. I am searching since months on how to varnish watercolor paintings, i am allergic, I can't use any sprays mediums. I have a question, I would like to know the brand of the wax you are using.

Awesome!!!! Are you familiar with watercolor ground applied on the canvas and paint directly on it?

This is great! Often my watercolor paintings are warped when dried. Yours is so flat? How do you achieve that?! And if it does have some bend/warp to it, would this process flatten it out on the board? Thx!