It’s okay to simply hang a finished acrylic painting up and not varnish it! I do it a lot. Or perhaps you simply don’t want the extra expense and time it takes to varnish your painting. Maybe you don’t want to have any kind of sheen on the finished painting, although they do make a matte varnish. Reasons to not varnish your acrylic paintings are because you may want to paint over it at a later time. The satin and gloss varnishes add that extra wow factor to your painting especially with dark colors.

My ABSOLUTE FAVORITE thing about varnishing an acrylic painting is that it can make the colors look richer and deeper because it adds a semi-reflective sheen to the entire painting.

Testing a small surface is important because you don’t want to ruin the painting!! Yes, permanent! Please make sure you read the instructions on your varnish bottle and test out a surface first before applying it to your painting. I will NOT be describing that kind of removable varnish process in this post – only the permanent one. There are some varnishes that can be removed years later so you can re-varnish a painting and make it last even longer! With that kind of varnish, you would apply an “ isolation coat” and then apply the removable varnish over it. Providing a protective seal will make the painting last longer because you’re protecting it from dust, debree and some fading from UV Rays. Check Price on Amazon Liquitex BASICS Satin Varnish Adding that protective seal gives it that finished look. There are many reasons you would want to do this! You may be gifting or selling your painting or you simply LOVE your painting so much that you want to protect it for years to come. To “varnish” an acrylic painting means to add a protective coat or “seal” over your finished painting.

Jump To Materials List Techniques For Varnishing Your Painting

Acrylic paint pours on canvas