Finishing Techniques
There are two steps to the finishing process that I apply to my paintings, based on discussions with the Golden support team. The first step is to seal the painting, and the final step is to varnish the surface.
Sealing Layer
The sealing layer provides a uniform surface to the painting. In my case, I do not want to introduce any brush strokes in the sealing layer. To accomplish this I use a mixture of Acrylic Glazing Liquid (Gloss) and Airbrush Medium, with the Airbrush Medium being a little less than half of the mixture. Note these are both regular Golden acrylics and hence provide a faster drying layer. The Airbrush medium is slightly matte so the resulting finish is slightly on the satin side.
To insure a smooth coat, I apply the mixture with a one and a hlf inch brush of the type pictured below. I use the same type of brush to apply the varnish layer.
Sealing Layer
The sealing layer provides a uniform surface to the painting. In my case, I do not want to introduce any brush strokes in the sealing layer. To accomplish this I use a mixture of Acrylic Glazing Liquid (Gloss) and Airbrush Medium, with the Airbrush Medium being a little less than half of the mixture. Note these are both regular Golden acrylics and hence provide a faster drying layer. The Airbrush medium is slightly matte so the resulting finish is slightly on the satin side.
To insure a smooth coat, I apply the mixture with a one and a hlf inch brush of the type pictured below. I use the same type of brush to apply the varnish layer.
Varnish Layer
For the Varnish layer I again do not want to introduce any brush strokes. I use a mixture of 4 parts Polymer Varnish with UVLS (Gloss), 1 part Ploymer Varnish with UVLS (Satin), and 2 parts distilled water. This is removable and the brushes cleaned with ammonia. This results in a nice finish with a bit of the excessive gloss removed.
