Varnish watercolours part III- conclusion

After a year I come back to the subject of watercolours and varnish! There's much more experience and the 'test paper' has been in the sun  for a year. Would there be colour difference between the part that has been in the sun for a year and the part that was covered?

So -where does my need to varnish watercolours come from...
Well, first of all, I want to keep developing and discovering! And after an intense try-out with acrylics, I came back to watercolours because I still love them the most, with their poetry and transparency and beautiful accidents! But I also want to work on a broader range of supports. Apart from paper, I used canvas, linen, carton and wood!

Secondly, if you go for varnish you protect your watercolours!  You don't need glass anymore - which means your work is much lighter, you don't have to think about the reflection of glass and your choice of frames becomes much bigger...

And thirdly, even if you want to hang on to the glass, the varnish makes the paint look as if it is wet, and the colours are definitely brighter.

Varnished watercolour on canvas, in classic frame, no glass

What I did not know a year ago, is how varnished watercolours will hold  - will they go yellow, will the colours stay fresh. To find out I covered half of one test-watercolour with tape and put that in front of the South facing window of my atelier. A strong sun (we're in the South of France) shines on it most of the time.

Today I removed it, and the only thing damaged by the sun, was the tape - so, yay! there is no visible difference between the covered and  the uncovered part:

Technique:
Watercolour isn't waterproof, and if you would apply your varnish with a brush on the fresh watercolour, the paint would come off with the solution, as if you go over it with a wet brush. Not a good idea. SO:
Use a spray! First apply 2 layers of watercolour fixatif/varnish (I use Schmincke Aquarell-Fixatif) . Leave ample time between layers! Wait one day, then at least 2 layers of Acrylic varnish, and then it is safe to add one or two layers of varnish with a brush.
After this treatment you can exhibit your watercolour without glass.

Watercolour fixatif spray, varnish (brilliant and satin), acrylic varnish spray

Experiences:
For an expo I covered four 2 meter long canvas strips with watercolour primer (Schmincke Aqua grund) and painted them with watercolours. Then varnished them, only on the front, 2 layers with varnish for acrylic paint.  They were hanging in a beautiful but very humid space. The colours stayed perfect, the canvas buckled a bit. Great advantage: you can roll them up!

For the 500-year Valbonne festivites I painted with watercolours on woorden blocks (treated with watercolour gesso) and varnished them with thick layers - the test will be the sun and the rain as they will be outside for a while...

All in all, I am happy that I have the possibility to varnish my watercolours. It extended my means of expression!!

links to two previous posts about this subject:
Can you varnish Watercolours: Experiment II
Watercolour Canvas Varnish: Experiment I