Preserving acrylic paintings
 

Hello,

I recently painted a couple of acrylic portraits and was worried about their longevity. I understand that many people apply a varnish to completed oil paintings in order to prevent some of the effects of aging, but is there something that can be applied to an acrylic painting?

After spending so much time and energy creating these portraits, I would hate to see them dull and crack due to my own negligence.

Thanks so much for any information you can pass on!

Dear Carrie,

I just read that GamVar also works with acrylics as a varnish. It is a Gamblin product (that is currently on sale at Dick Blick). I've never used it with acrylics, but I can highly recommend it for oils.

Dear Stanka,

Thanks so much for responding with your great suggestion. I'm making an acrylic mock-painting right now in order to test this product. I'll be sure to post the end result!

Thanks again!

Acrylic Paintings and varnish
 

Carrie,

Don't worry, your paintings should be fine for a long time. But I would caution about using a varnish intended for oils on acrylics. Some oil varnishes are not as flexible as acrylics and your attempt to avoid cracking might just cause cracks that would not have accrued at all if you just left it alone.

But any acrylic varnish that stays flexible will work fine. I use Krylon Crystal clear acrylic. Acrylic paint is very durable and if you used a professional brand of acrylics with a lightfastness rating (Liqutex is my brand of choice) you should not have to worry about any fading ether.

Acrylics should never crack (since they have not been around for hundreds of years like oils, I can't say what might happen centuries from now); they flex with the canvas, and once dry, they do not move or shrink like oils do as they cure.

You do not even need to varnish a acrylic painting at all if you do not want to. The dried acrylic paint is like plastic and as long as you do not use a strong solvent or a abrasive cleaner, it can be cleaned with soap and water with out affecting the paint layer at all. So a protective varnish is only just extra protection or to give a more even appearance to the painting surface.

I know many artists here who paint in oils, and swear by the archival quality of oils, might take exception to this, but acrylic paintings might just out-last oil paintings. And they will definitely out last any oil painting that was not painted correctly, following the rule of fat over lean, or was varnished too soon before the oil had sufficient time to cure.

Trust me, I have many illustrations painted with acrylics that were rolled and treated quite badly. (Not by me.) Once I deliver a painting to the art director and it goes out to pre-press, all kinds of nasty things happen to it. Once I get them back I just remount them on a new board and wipe them down with a damp rag, or some soap and water if they were extremely soiled. They all have survived the treatment quite well and they look today as good as they did when I finished painting them. (Except for the one that was actually cut with a xacto knife by a careless pre-press person.)

I agree
 

I think about anything you do to acrylics will be less helpful than just pure paint.

Thanks for the good advice, Michael! After all is said and done, I think I'm going to leave well-enough alone and keep the paintings exactly as they are. Maybe down the line, I'll experiment with my less fortunate rejects (there are a few of those withering away in the closet, just begging for a little attention)!

Thanks again for taking time out to give me your opinion.

--Carrie

Hi Carrie,

It may be best like the others said to just leave it alone. But there is a product at Utrecht called Grumbacher Picture Varnish, that comes in a spray can. It says on the bottle that it is a final varnish for oil and acrylic paintings. It is non-yellowing and dries crystal clear.

Hi Carrie!

I'm new here and not sure if it is relevant to post a reply so long after your original post. But I was surprised that no one suggested that you use acrylic varnish. You can get it at Dick Blick's web site, under Acrylic Medium - Liquitex. Here's how they describe it:

[QUOTE]Gloss Medium and Varnish

For more than anyone ever wanted to know about acrylics and their use, go to Golden's website. Here Golden Acrylics Web site map

They are a very good company that goes way out of its way to provide artists with technical help. If something is not in their .pdf files, news letter archives, or FAQ, you can email the technical department and get an answer from a chemist.

Carl is right on the money. The Golden paint site contains a wealth of information.

Also, it important to"varnish" acrylic paintings as the acrylic films are somewhat soft and that over time surface dirt can get imbedded in the film. I suggest that you apply an isolating film of acrylic gloss medium and when that is thororoghly dry, apply a "varnish" coat with Golden's Polymer Varnish with UVLS (UV inhibitors and light stabilizers which protect the color of the painting from fading). This final "varnish" is removable with alkaline solutions for conservation purposes.