Pen and Ink Ability is here to be your source
of knowledge to help you to improve your
abilities with writing, drawing, painting and even gilding
Zest-it Ability
Zest-it Brush Cleaner |
Zest-it Parchment Blend
| Zest-it Pencil Blend
Zest-it Clear Painting Medium | Zest-it Damar Varnish | Zest-it Hand
Cleaner
Damar Varnish
The birth of Zest-it Damar Varnish came about
because the question ‘Can Zest-it be used to make Damar Varnish?’ was
asked by the Smithsonian Institute in America.
Our first tests, some years ago, had seemed to show that Zest-it would not
dissolve the Damar resin, so there was much talking, testing and
consulting. The main problem was that the Damar resin (5 lb cut) took
much longer to dissolve in the Zest-it than it does in Turpentine,
mainly because Zest-it is not an ‘aggressive’ solvent.
There is always a synergy to making components work well together and
one ingredient necessary for this to work well was time. After refining
the process, a sample batch that had been tested to the extreme, was
sent to the Smithsonian for them to test, they were delighted with the
result as were we.
The Zest-it Damar Gloss Varnish and Zest-it Damar Retouching Varnish went
into large scale production.
The Zest-it Damar Gloss Varnish (5 lb cut) is for final oil painting
protection with all the properties necessary to give a gloss finish and
keep the oil paintwork in prime condition whilst protecting it from the
elements.
The Zest-it Damar Retouching Varnish is for use whilst the oil painting
is in progress, so the part completed work can be protected while drying
takes place, but can then be worked on at a future date with the
integrity of the oil paint being respected and the new oil paint
integrating with the previous work.
Use a varnish brush or a soft haired brush if you prefer, to apply a
thin coat of varnish to the finished painting and allow drying. As
always with varnishing, thin coats give a better finish then thick ones,
so apply two or three thin coats to produce the desired finish. Use the
same type of brush to apply Retouching Varnish, one coat will suffice if
painting is to be continued in a short time.
So our sincere thanks go to the Smithsonian Institute for initiating
more research, to Cornelissen's for liaison and to GB at Roberson’s for
his expertise in making available this new addition to the product
range.
Jacqui 2007