Pros and Cons of Matte Versus Gloss Varnish?????????????????

Hi,

I'm photographing my art lately (mainly oils), and i haven't yet varnished some of them, as the varnish can be problematic with glare and reflections using photo lamps.

I was thinking of using matte varnish for some of them, to reduce the glare, but i know that it doesn't get rid of them 100%, and that blacks can sometimes get 'foggy' with a matte varnish, and darker with a glossy varnish.

And that overall, the richness of the colors is generally improved with gloss varnish, and not so much with the matte.

So, i was wondering what all you artists who photograph and document your work have decided is the best course for oil and acrylic paintings.

Thanks a mil..

Slick

I photograph indoors in indirect light. When I have had to resort to more direct light where glare is a problem, I use a polarizer, and it seems to help.

I just varnished an acrylic in matte for similar reasons. I do not know if the printer cares about the varnish. He uses what he says is a digital process to record the image. The colours on the print did not come out well. Some of the colours in the painting were completely lost in the print.

Another reason I use matte varnish is that it is easier to retouch over it than with gloss.

I think if you use a polariser, you may be changing some of the colours, but I have never used a polariser to photo a painting.

That could be a problem when they clean your painting 200 years down the line, and remove varnish along with your touch-ups, unless you remove the varnish first, re-touch, and then varnish again.

I've been trying to avoid have to buy more camera stuff...