Waxing Watercolors

Pro Tips from The Artist's Road

Waxing Watercolors

Knowing how to properly display our finished masterpieces is a crucial skill in the life of an artist. Watercolorists have had to struggle with this since, well, forever, because of the intrusive and distracting reflections caused by glass. Glass is used to protect the surface. The invention of UV museum glass has helped to minimize harmful sunlight as well as to reduce reflections and provide protection. However, museum glass is very expensive, still causes some loss of clarity and is prohibited in some exhibitions (as is all glass) due to the possibility of breakage during shipping or handling by exhibition staff. Plexiglass is often substituted in those cases, but here again, reflectivity and the unevenness of the plastic surface can cause problems. We want our beautiful work to shine, not the glass in front of it!

There is an alternative, in some instances, and this solution is gaining traction with artists. Whenever possible, we now wax our watercolors with Gamb…