Great to see this video. My go to varnish for years was Liquitex, but for whatever reason the results lately have been not as expected. Maybe my mixing ratios are off. Anyhow, yesterday I stumbled upon the Gamvar Satin varnish. Your video was right on time comparing the two products. I'm finishing a portrait of my Dad so with caution I want the final seal with varnish to not disappoint. You have helped again ... Thank you!!!

This is very informative. Speaking of heavy body acrylic. I have found Liquitex good for abstracts, palette work and textures. Golden is wonderful in portrait work with or without glaze. It blends nicely. And sure enough I've wasted my share of Golden paint before realizing less paint is needed. Thank you for sharing!

I heard Golden acrylics have a longer "open time" which allows you to blend the paints. But they never say how many seconds or minutes of time!

Great tips! Thanks for sharing!!!

I love liquitex heavy .

I learned this in art class in high school but forgot.

Great video! Is there a reason the green you were using for the shadows is Open and the rest are normal heavy body paints?

I have used Gamvar. It's just OK. Tends to resist the paint if conditions are not just right, i.e. it beads up. For oil paintings, much better to use damar varnish as it looks way better, but can be tricky too. Never mind all the 'archival' BS, as that truly doesn't matter unless you are famous. Even if you are famous .....does not matter. Only varnish if improves the look of your painting. Otherwise, skip it.

I wish someone would compare the different sheens on a painting. I’ve always used liquitex gloss and it’s hard to see when light shines on the painting so I was wondering of buying a satin one

Thanks! This was really helpful

"Brilliant" is used code for the paints having fugitive pigments like fluorescents. Not appropriate for professional artwork. "Opera" is a codeword for this, too.

I very much prefer the consistency of Winsor and Newton but I vastly prefer the Liquitex tubes. Golden's ultramarine is gorgeous but, like W&N, the caps are annoying.

Thanks I have just bought some Gamvar, waiting for delivery x

Thank you, very useful lesson🙏🙏❤

For those using the stay-wet palette and/or DIY solutions, I highly recommend to read the article in the JustPaint website titled “Using GOLDEN Artist Acrylics in Masterson Sta-Wet® Palettes”. It has good tips how to avoid mold on those palettes.

After three months after using this varnish, it is still sticky. I used 2 very thin coats. Any suggestions?

I put my varnish brushes in a mix of Murphys oil soap and water after use. My brushes are fine.

Nice info! Have you tried the Golden Open Acrylics?

great comparison Thank You. I was surprised by your price mention until I saw this vid is six years old. Yeah, Gamvar has gone up A LOT since this video was made. *LOL*

Fantastic video. Thank you for sharing your insights

I don’t ever recommend pouring any varnish directly on a painting

Thank you for the video, but kill the music it very distracting when you are trying to learn something

How do you paint the Gnomes on the wood slices?

awesome!!!! learned allot

so cute so nice so informative thank you!

Both companies, and their respective products, are excellent! Top shelf! Golden's customer service far surpasses Liquitex from my experience...Liquitex didn't even come close....

Tracing over any kind of picture or even one's own drawing can help in improving drawing skills.

Hi Saena. Very fine video showdown. Thank you for sharing.👍

Excellent video. I tried Gamvar this morning, and it is so easy to use. I was surprised it takes so little varnish. I really like resin, but it is a lot of work! I have an older painting that needs freshening up. Do you think I could use Gamvar gloss over it if I cleaned toe canvas? Thanks!

My dumb brain had to watch this several time to understand because I kept getting distracted

Thank you very much

Very informative and full of ideas. I like it.

Can you transfer them by drawing over say like a printed sheet from a computer and retrace them onto a blank sheet?

That was pretty damn good, thanks

❤

thank you, finally I found what I was looking for. i use oil and acrylic mediums on the same canvas but didn’t know which product to use to seal it. as for ruining brushes with liquitex, that all Ive ever used and have just ruined 1 brush which was my fault for forgetting to wash it out. thanks again for the Gambling Gamvar tip. ordering that asap.

Thank you for the tips❤

Its easy to trace it straight from the laptop screen rather than drawing three times 😫

I wash brushes under warm water with Dawn soap... never had a brush ruined from Liquitex. You have to clean them as soon as you're done. 🤔

that's exactly the information I was looking for. Thank you!

Great ❤

Sis Tape name pls

I think I really love golden acrylics cause one of my favorite colors are cobalt blue hue, purple red and hansa yellow medium cause I actually love the blending on the colors 🤩

can we do with normal pencil?

This vid is very helpful now ik how to use tracing paper!

This video was very helpful. I think I’m going to try using golden

Hi Saena, I have tried all the methods before except for the last one, wet paper towels and wax paper. I used that one last week and was amazed how long and how well my paints stayed moist. Yes, i used a take out container with a lid to keep my paints moist overnight, even over 2 nights. Just ideal. The other methods didn't work as well for me. Thank you so much.

You could try to use a silicone catalyst wedge to apply the liquitex gloss varnish bevause as the wedge is made of silicone the varnish SHOULD peel off the silicone once dry if there's any excess or you can wrap the brush up in cling film then store it in an air tight zip lick bag in between uses

I have a 30x40 inch oil painting I need to varnish. I'm considering Gamvar gloss and wanted to ask if a 16oz bottle will cover with one coat. My painting is on a gesso coated stretched canvas.

Why did you put that loud music in the background? So distracting.