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Paper Chase - On frog juice and other magic potions - part 3 of 1 2 3 4

by Mike McNamee Published 01/04/2004

The results would suggest that if you wish to preserve your tonal balance exactly you should lighten your mid tones by about 5% and reduce your contrast by a similar amount. Alternatively you could accept the extra zip in you print and rejoice in it! The Rolls Royce alternative is to make a profiling target and to build a profile specifically for a varnished workflow. We tried this but the results were a little inconclusive - certainly not worse, but not significantly better either. It is rigmarole to perform this operation and so we only attempted it the once! We did however straighten out the linearity tone curve somewhat and bring the tones to the target values.

The Colours

There was a measurable increase in the saturation of the tones in the yellow-red quadrant of the gamut. However, with a perceptual rendering intent the effect was diluted as you move towards the neutrals and so the effect on the lighter skins tones was barely measurable. In any event the changes were not particularly noticeable in typical skin tones There was a very slight rotation of the hue angle towards yellow in the skin tones presumably because some blue form the OBA's had been filtered out.

The overall colour error on the Macbeth chart set of 24 colours was made worse by the application of the varnish mainly due to the darkening of all the colours. This can be seen in the tables in all the lightness channel errors.

Surface Strength

The robustness of the surface was massively increased. The particular paper and ink combination that we tested is very sensitive to marking. Careless rolling up of a print (when the edges are allowed to touch the printed surface) can be enough to ruin a print. After coating you can drag a fingernail across the surface with considerable force and not do any damage. The surface may be rubbed with the moistened ball of the finger as hard as you like, with no effect.

UV and Moisture protection

This is a tricky one to call. There is no doubt that the uv properties of the surface are radically changed, apparently for the better. How good the surface is at keeping water vapour and ozone out in unknown. However it is pertinent to recall that the varnishes were originally developed to protect signboards, which are traditionally exposed to the full force of the elements. Degradation of the varnish under ultra violet light is also not quantified. The balance of probability is that the varnish will significantly improve the all round durability of the print or canvas.

The one thing, which is certain however, you should test the products on a scrap print before you apply it to you masterpiece. You need to be sure that your ink/paper combination is compatible, as well as acquiring a bit of skill in the process.

Let's Look at Real Pictures

We had got a little blase about all the above and so we hauled Tom Lee round with some examples of his latest ventures into renaissance style, low key portraiture. His face was a picture as we slopped the varnish over his Ilford Canvas. Flowers deep in the shadows of the background had vanished on printing, but came back into bloom with the application of varnish - it really was quite a stunning effect. Tom was pretty stunned too - he went off to buy some! Digital artist, Carol Tipping was equally impressed, we sent her off with a borrowed tin of the satin product to complete her own series of tests. Many artists are applying the varnish in an "uneven" brushing which is sympathetic to the underlying brush-mark structure of the original. Don't try that one at home unless you are an artist - it's harder to do than people like Carol make it look!

PRICES AND CONTACTS:
DCP Varnishes £24.95 for 750ml
Purdy Brushes 2" £12.26; 2.5" £14.13; 3" £17.54.
DCP Systems 0114 257 3640
LG Harris 2"White Diamond £4.67
Mini Roller Handle £1.27
Foam Mini Rollers 72p
Harris products are available from all good hardware stockists
LG Harris Customer Service 01527 575441
ALL PRICES ARE EX VAT

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1st Published 01/04/2004
last update 09/12/2022 14:56:17

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