Varnishing paper/cloth for collage (click to enlarge)
Have you ever wanted to use very fragile papers in a collage but did not know how to prepare them? Often, some tissue papers can be so thin and flimsy that when it comes to applying them to the surface of collage artwork, it falls a part or disintegrates; hence making a mess and nearly impossible to apply the paper easily.
I learned from a fellow artist that “Gloss Medium & Varnish Medium” made by Liquitex is a good medium to start with, (I have a 16oz bottle visible in the photo). First, I must have a white plastic garbage bag – no other colored bag works – to place down on my table. Then I lay out the papers I want varnished (one of my favorites is old sewing patterns). With an inexpensive 2″ brush I gently apply this varnish on one side of the paper. Acrylic paint can be added to the varnish for color if desired. Once the varnished papers are dry — it is transparent when it dries — I then v-e-r-y carefully peel off the paper from the plastic bag, turn it over and varnish the other side.
The varnish is archival, but I do not know if this process makes my non-archival papers — old sheet music, fabric, sewing patterns, mags, etc. — archival or not. If you know, please share!
I am off to a collage workshop with internationally known collage artist Jonathan Talbot, and I hope to learn the answers to several questions. He seems to be a great teacher, so I am truly looking forward to it. I will also be meeting people I have not met before. Fun!
