Let's talk about varnishing and care to protect your alcohol ink work! We get tons of questions on varnishing steps, products to use, why varnish etc. Let's break it down and address all of these today.
The following details are relevant no matter what kind of surface you painted on. Be it YUPO, ceramics, acrylic sheets, plastics, glass etc, the below instructions on varnishing will work.
Why Varnish your Artwork?
Varnishing protects your ink and the surface you have painted for a long time from damages. YUPO in general has a long shelf life but inks on the other hand are susceptible to sun light and UV in particular. Also if your surface is canvas or wood or mdf, varnishing the completed work protects your surface as well from damage.
Which Varnish to use?
Well in the market there isn't a varnish designed specifically for alcohol inks. But what work the best for alcohol inks are Krylon varnishes. In Krylon you have got two varnishes - Krylon Kamar and Krylon UV Resistant. Both of them are spray varnishes and we will see how and when to use these both a little further in the topic. If you are unable to buy Krylon varnishes then you can choose Brustro Acrylic spray varnish to replace the Krylon Kamar varnish. And you can choose Winsor & Newton UV varnish to replace the Krylon UV Resistant.
How to Varnish & Steps?
Varnishing procedure is a simple 2 Step process -
Step 1: 24 hours after you finish your artwork, use the Krylon Kamar varnish or Brustro Acrylic spray varnish to spray coat your work. Make sure you keep a distance of 10-12 cms between the spray can and your art work and go over the art work spraying the varnish covering properly. Cover your art work and let the varnish completely dry for about 4 hours. Repeat the process for a second layer of coat after the first coat is completely dry. Do not over spray!!! If you think you have missed covering some parts of your artwork, you can always go over in subsequent coats but do not over spray and make the varnish drip or run over your artwork.
Step 2: In this step we varnish the artwork with a UV resistant varnish. For this step you can choose Krylon UV Resistant varnish or Winsor & Newton UV varnish. Krylon UV Resistant is a spray varnish and the procedure to use will be exactly like described in the Step1. Winsor & Newton varnish will have to applied with a soft brush. Make sure you cover the artwork well and use a soft brush to avoid any brush lines.
Is a UV Varnish Really Necessary?
Protecting your artwork from UV and sun light is really really important. Over a period of time alcohol inks fade out due to the exposure to sun light. The UV in the sun light causes the inks to fade out over the years. So is it very important to protect your artwork from UV radiation. You can choose to varnish your art work with UV resistant varnishes or you can choose to frame your artwork using a UV resistant glass. Choose which ever suits the best for you but underlying point to remember is to protect your artwork from UV radiation :)
Hope this post is detailed enough and covers all the aspects of varnishing. If you have any question contact us thru email or instagram, we will be happy to help you!