How should an oil painting be varnished?

Varnishes are used to protect the finished painting. Picture varnishes should be removable so that paintings can be cleaned when they have become dirty. There are two important things to remember about varnishes: • Don't varnish too early, even the thinnest oil painting should be allowed to dry for 6 months. A minimum of one month is required for thin Griffin alkyd paintings. • Don't use varnishes as mediums, this would make the painting sensitive to solvent. An attempt to clean it in the future may remove the painting instead. Here are eight simple steps to varnishing success: 1) Use a 1”- 4” flat wide, soft, tightly packed, varnishing brush (such as the Winsor & Newton Monarch glazing/varnishing brush). Keep it clean and use it only for varnishing. 2) Place the work to be varnished flat on a table - do not varnish vertically. 3) Apply the varnish in 1-3 thin coats, rather than 1 thick coat. A thick coat will take longer to dry, may dry cloudy, drip or sag during application and has ...  more