[George]

The purpose of Lac Water Varnish is not so much to serve as an isolation layer as to act as a fixative. Watercolor is easily lifted when brushing over with more color or water. This makes glazing difficult and building up color depth nearly impossible. With Lac Water Varnish, you can fix the paint on paper and do multiple passes of paint. Lifting is not an issue with oil paint, so there is an equivalent of Lac Water Varnish in oil painting. Was there another purpose you were thinking about?

[Stephen]

Thanks George. I am open-mindedly exploring everything. I have no real process, but I am trying to discover and improve as I go along and develop one.

So far, learning to paint has meant exploring different effects, and if I find something that I think looks good, in watercolor I can use the lac varnish to fix it in place so I can try different approaches on the rest of the piece.

One example: Recently, I was painting on a cotton rag handmade paper.. no idea how it would respond to the watercolor, or the charcoal I planned on using with it. I developed a layout organically and was happily surprised how it flowed and looked. I was completely blind in this undertaking: I had never painted on that material before, have painted maybe 3 small things watercolor in total, and also trying out many of my new NP watercolors for the first time as well. The composition was intended to have a central figure (a portrait- though the specifics of the pose/expression/tone were not decided yet), but I was happy with what I had otherwise, so I could put the fixative on there and then paint on a few different iterations of a portrait until I found something that felt best. I’m still learning the absolute basics and seeing what I can do with each technique as I try/encounter them.

Lifting watercolor also has been a mixed-results bag for me so far. Individual strokes, yes, but in a macro sense not so much, as I like the ability to develop a larger element before deciding that I want to go another route. The fixative has allowed me to get back to more of a base while exploring these options. I’m sure there are many more efficient ways of accomplishing what I am doing, but in my bubble, at least I’m making progress.

As for oil, I have painted dozens of paintings recently using an acrylic underpainting, and then painting oil layers on top, to achieve various effects. Functionally, If I don’t like what I’ve painted in oil, I can scrape it off it is relatively fresh, or in the more extreme case, I can use a solvent and go back to the underpainting. I don’t know how to achieve many effects, so I’m exploring that constantly. I have started moving away from that acrylic/oil workflow, limiting solvents for multiple reasons, and finding new ways to achieve what I’m already able to do (functionally) with the setup I had, but also explore new oil-based possibilities (including the depth and glazing effects you were mentioning).

I’m afraid I don’t know what I don’t know, but for now I’m trying to look at that situation as both a weakness and a strength. I am trying to study and incorporate your research and information on PBP and NP to make the best and most informed decisions with each new step forward. It might just be my personal, inefficient method of working/exploration, and that is what needs to be refined, not new tools. If nobody needs such a thing as an isolation layer in their oil paintings, then for me to look for it means I’m either doing something novel (almost certainly not), or I’m not doing things the right way. I’m ok asking the question though, since I’m not ashamed of showing my inexperience. : – )

thanks to you all for your help and advice

-Stephen

[jan]

Hi Stephen,

I know what you’re trying to do in exploring oils and in my experience, letting it dry is the best approach to “isolate” as you say. On a dry piece you can apply VERY thin glazes to alter a color. You can add an object without ruining what ‘s already there. If you don’t like, just wipe it away. To be more drastic you can sand the piece or just a small area of the piece to improve something like “edges”. But make sure it’s real dry and do it outside or with filtration. Sanding leaves a ghost image if done strongly which can often foster creativity in a new direction. You can sand into a “couch”, that is apply a thin coat of something like Oleogel and sand on that, this mitigates some dust if you’re indoors and in my experience I like the way the new paint application “adheres”. Always wipe/clean yr piece down well after sanding. Sanding works best on a firm substrate, not so good on stretched canvas. This reworking of an oil painting is common to many artists which is why they often have 2 or 3 or more paintings underway in the studio, giving some a chance to dry. Another option to explore is taking a photo of yr work, put it in a program like Procreate or Photoshop and manipulate the image. Then incorporate the changes on the actual ptng with paint. (Saves on paint anyway). An old but easy way is to place a piece of clear acetate over a dry ptng and paint changes on top of that to experiment, If you don’t like, wipe away. Have fun, reworking is a time honored tradition in oil painting.