Oil paint drying stages

geoffrey_38

Hi, so having done a painting I can say I am happy to varnish and possibly sell, I need some advice on DMP paint drying. As I live in New Zealand I cannot buy Mark Carders paint (well not easily - customs is a bitch), so I followed Marks recipes for mediums. I used Norma professional oils not Winsor and Newton. My question is about the difference in sunken paint whilst drying. I notice my darks are staying glossy in patches, whilst other areas are flat. Is this a concern? The painting has been drying now for 3 months and going by the theory another 3 months before I varnish. 

KingstonFineArt

You can varnish with Gamvar when fingernail dry. It’s not brittle. Or spray with Kamvar. A temporary varnish. 

geoffrey_38

TKingstonFineArt said:

You can varnish with Gamvar when fingernail dry. It’s not brittle. Or spray with Kamvar. A temporary varnish. 

Thanks. So I am assuming Gamvar still allows the paint below to breath? I still don't understand why some of my blacks (Burnt umber/ French ultramarine) are glossy whilst others are flat. Only reason I can think of is that more paint was applied in those areas.

Dustin_Cropsboy

The duller areas will pop again when oiled out or final-varnished.  The others with more education and experience can tell you why it dries oddly like that, but it is very common.

dencal

Folks

Artists tend to apply retouch varnishes when they encounter problems with “sinking in” or areas of the paint that begin to take on a matte or under-saturated appearance (this is particularly common with darker colors). Sinking-in can be a result of a) using too much solvent to thin the paint b) using a ground that is too absorbent or unevenly absorbent c) if the paint film and/or ground layers are too thin and/or c) if not enough medium is present in the paint. Sinking in can also be caused by the painter using too much thinner, which will weaken the binder’s capacity to make a film, exposing the pigment to the air.

https://www.artcons.udel.edu/mitra/Documents/MITRA_Varnishes.pdf


http://blog.drawmixpaint.com/2014/05/using-oil-instead-of-retouch-varnish.html

Denis

Dustin_Cropsboy

I don't think I'd ever seen that Mark Carder blog before!  Thanks @dencal