Paint Basket Art Forum
Watercolour Painting => Watercolour General Chat => Topic started by: TeresaM on June 23, 2018, 08:55:00 AM
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Hi fellow PB community.
I found lots of painting tips via YouTube and I thought I would share this one with you. I found that you don't need to frame your finished watercolour paintings under glass.
You can use Wax medium to seal your paintings and then you can glue them to a canvas or board. I have just received my order of Dorland's Wax Medium and have used it on my recent painting for the June Challenge. I can now frame it without glass, so no more horrible reflections. Apparently you can use this on acrylic painting too.
Here's one of the links to YouTube to show you how to do it
https://youtu.be/rm3HXmgS-Aw
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Oh my gosh!!! This is so cool. :yippee: Thanks, Theresa for posting this helpful tip. I love this idea.
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Theresa :thankyou: and bless you for such a wonderful tip. It will help so many of our members I am sure. Patricia
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Your welcome I have done 2 coats on my lantern painting and it looks good and feels smooth.
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Teresa,
I'd love to see some photos of your finished pieces--front, side, back.
I am seriously considering doing a series of small square paintings and mounting them on birch panels.
Here is a video that shows two ways of attaching mounting fixtures on the back that doesn't require carpentry skills:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT-e2DMJ7tU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT-e2DMJ7tU)
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This is fantastic to know - it would make taking my paintings to PV so much easier! I too would love to see some of your work framed like this. Thanks for sharing!
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Teresa, don't mount the paper to the stretched canvas. It is too flexible and will cause the paper to lift off or come loose from the canvas. Only mount to a solid surface. O0
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Teresa, don't mount the paper to the stretched canvas. It is too flexible and will cause the paper to lift off or come loose from the canvas. Only mount to a solid surface. O0
Good to know, Dennis. thanks!
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BeaSue, I have a full tutorial on this subject in https://onlineartlessons.com (https://onlineartlessons.com)
You'll find it under Tutorials
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Thanks, I just made a note to include this discussion in the next newsletter.
Am going to watch the lesson now, Dennis. Very interesting topic.
aloha
mea
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BeaSue, I have a full tutorial on this subject in https://onlineartlessons.com (https://onlineartlessons.com)
You'll find it under Tutorials
Thank, Dennis! I just checked it out. Great tutorial!
I have another question. I had thought about trying to add some gold leaf to my paintings. Would it be possible to do this if I were using the wax medium to seal the painting to a wood panel? Would it be better to try to apply the gold leaf after I sealed the painting with the wax?
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Dennis, it's a great tutorial. Spells all the steps out clearly.
Am really excited about trying this and hope to get materials to start one this week.
aloha
mea
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BeaSue, It has been 50 years since I last worked with gold leaf. I would suggest you add the gold leaf to a test piece on some watercolour. Make sure it is well applied and well burnished especially at the edges of the gold leaf as we don't want the rag to hook on it. Add the wax gently at first and add more pressure if there is not a problem. If you are happy with this, then you can go ahead and work on the painting proper. :gl:
We are working on a tutorial on making the box frame. Look for this in the future.
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Thanks so much, Dennis!
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Well, I accumulated all my supplies and tried this. I followed the video Teresa posted. Let's just say that I encountered a steep learning curve. Almost everything that could go wrong, did go wrong!
Properly chastened, I will now follow Dennis's method...which I should have done in the first place. :blush:
However! A positive--I found that one can apply the wax over gold leaf, and the gold leaf does not lose its luster. Since I have 13 more basswood panels, I have many more opportunities to improve.
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:heeha: This is brilliant Dennis! Is this a new process or has it been around for a while? This will make a huge difference when doing displays and showings, AND much more affordable! :yippee: Assuming of course I can get the wax! :doh: Some things just never change..... :2funny:
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Val, this is not my idea, it has been around for a while. All I've done is to take it and expand on it. There is more related to this coming soon.
On the 25th this month I am taking part in a night market and all my work is based on this concept. I have built the wood box frames and stuck my pen and ink sketches to them and sealed them as per the tutorial. I will upload photos of them soon. I made 20 of them and they are 190mm x 150 mm each (7 1/2"x 6"). They are all sealed with 2 applications of wax and 2 coats of varnish.
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Dennis,
I bought the wax and the wood box frames. Will rewatch your lesson again, then give it a try.
aloha
mea
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Dennis, I can't wait to see your future posts about this!
I'm starting over today with new paintings. (I'm cutting down some previous paintings to fit my 6" square wood panels.)
One mistake I made on the first one was not to finish my wood panel properly--I failed to Gesso the wood before painting it with acrylic paint. Can you tell me what I should apply after the paint dries on the wood? would a matte medium seal it? should I use the spray varnish?
For others interested in trying this (Val? Mea?) I buy my cradled basswood panels at a very reasonable price at Dick Blick:
https://www.dickblick.com/products/blick-studio-wood-panels/ (https://www.dickblick.com/products/blick-studio-wood-panels/)
Thanks!
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BeaSue, if I read you correctly you are using the panels to paint directly on it with acrylic paint. A matte medium varnish will seal it.This thread is actually about pasting a watercolour painting directly to the wood and then sealing it to enable it to be sold without being framed without glass.
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Dennis, I am pasting the paper watercolor paintings onto the panels, as you demonstrate in your tutorial.
My question regards how to seal the edge/side of the panel. I have painted the side of the wood panel with acrylic paint, but I just wanted to know about how to finish that side. It sounds like I can do that with a matte varnish.
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BeaSue, I paint the sides of the box frame with acrylic paint BEFORE pasting the painting onto the top. When I give the final coat of varnish to the painting I continue the matte varnish over to the sides as well. This method also seals the edges of the paper.
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BeaSue, I paint the sides of the box frame with acrylic paint BEFORE pasting the painting onto the top. When I give the final coat of varnish to the painting I continue the matte varnish over to the sides as well. This method also seals the edges of the paper.
Yup! That's what I'm doing, too. We're on the same page, Dennis. Thanks for responding. I really appreciate all your input & support.
Now I need to practice a bit more with my X-acto knife before slicing off those paper edges. On my first practice piece, I ended up gouging the wood. Not cool.
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O0
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Thank you all for the input on this. I am going to try it soon.
Any recommendation for varnish? I have never used it, so don't know what to buy.
aloha
mea
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MaryAnne, any Artists Quality varnish will work very well. I'm using a matte instead of a gloss varnish. Which one you use is personal choice.
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Dennis,
Do you use spray or brush-on varnish?
aloha
MAL
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I use a brush and check against the light to see if there are any dull spots I've missed.
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Good, thanks, Dennis. I am not good at spraying, so I will go the brush-on route, too.
aloha
MAL
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Interesting, but how will it stand over time, with dust? Cold wax medium is sticky.
With dagmar resine it can be dusted and buff, but I would be fearful to put hot wax on my WC.
I did not find Dennis' lesson on this topic, can someone give me the title? Thanks.
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Annie, it is a cold wax varnish. It is also used to varnish oil and acrylic paintings. O0 You'll find the article in http://onlineartlessons.com (http://onlineartlessons.com) free tutorials
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I hope I have bought the right varnish as the Golden Matte Polymer Varnish bottle says to dilute it 4 to 1 with water. AND to use soft gel Gloss first as a sealant. And to recoat, best after 24 hours. And to let it set a week or two before storing.
YIKES, there's a lot to this.
Do you folks dilute your varnish? Can the cold wax coating (3 coats) that I already did substitute for the soft gel GLOSS sealant?
Any advice gratefully accepted.
aloha
MAL
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Hmmm. The Liquitex matte acrylic varnish I use doesn't have those directions. I apply 2 coats of wax to my painting--drying in between each coat, of course. Then I brush on the varnish, let it dry, and apply another coat. I let it dry again for about 3-4 days before storing each of my panels in an 8"-square plastic bag (found these bags on Amazon).
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Thanks, Susan.
I ended up using a spray varnish that I also bought. Easier.
Will post later. The painting looks great.
Off to the airport to pick up a friend with a 5AM arrival time. UGH.
aloha
mea