To Finish Off A Painting...

...I have mixed up three glazes. Because it is a simpler, straightforward glaze, I thought I would share how I do it. This small painting is mostly cast in shadow, with a bright burst of sunlight through the center and casting off the far tree line. So, most of the painting is very cool in color temperature. I used Phthalo Blue straight from the tube for the cool blue glaze to coat everything that is in shadow. For the warm glaze (middle cup), I used Indian Yellow. Both are modern, transparent colors which have super high tinting strengths.

In other words, a little goes a long way. I mix them with a little Galkyd Lite that is thinned with about 30% Gamsol on the palette to break up the oil paint, then drop the resulting mixture into a cup, slowly adding the Galkyd/Gamsol mixture until they are thin enough to add a color tint, but still be quite transparent. I use clean old sable brushes, in this case #6 & #4 rounds, to apply the glazes. But before I glaze the painting, I test the glazes on the color strip (which contains the paint I used in in the final layer on the right 2/3), which now has tinted the right 1/3 of the strip. You may be able to see how the glazes make the colors pop just a little bit, but they definitely get that "wet" look to them after a glaze. Finally, the last (nearest) cup, simply has the Galkyd Lite/Gamsol mix with no color added to coat the sky. I liked the sky, and although I would usually add a little opaque paint to create a haze, in this case I left it clear to simply unify the entire surface (make the whole thing shiny). Also, by glazing the entire painting, there is an isolation layer between the paint layer and what will be the final layer, a matte varnish. The matte varnish will make the surface non-reflective and natural looking, and also serve as a removable protection layer form scratches, dust and other airborne particulate matter. Hope this helps you to finish off your paintings too!