How I seal my Alcohol Ink Paintings

One of the most common questions I get from my workshop students is, "How do you seal your alcohol ink paintings?"  There are two aspects of sealing that are necessary to fully protect your AI paintings. 1) Smudge prevention, and 2) UV protection.

​I went through a lot of trial and error to find an effective and acceptable way to seal my paintings.  I started by asking my AI painting friends online what they used.  People use a lot of different products.  Most people are sealing with acrylic UV varnishes and sealers commonly used on acrylic artwork.  But every single one of these I tried caused spotting or running of my inks.  I'm not sure why it's working for them, but it certainly didn't work for me.  ​

Sealing Stage 1: Smudge Protection

Finally I came across one product that protects with a beautiful glossy coat, and doesn't spot my inks at all:  Krylon "Short Cuts".  Another happy side effect is that this coating enhances the color of the alcohol inks even more!

This product creates a beautiful protective surface, but it doesn't provide UV protection.  UV protection is provided by various acrylic sealers, the very ones which spotted my inks.  Therefore sealing my paintings is a 2-step process.  Once the painting has been sealed with the Krylon Short Cuts, it has an enamel finish to which any UV protective medium can be applied with no problem.

Sealing Stage 2:
​UV Protection

The options for UV protection are many, and they come in two flavors: spray on, or brush on.  Both Krylon and Golden make spray-on versions of acrylic UV protection, and you can find these easily by searching online.  Try Googling "painting uv protection", for example.  

I really dislike sprays (the Krylon Short Cuts being a necessary evil), so I choose to use this brush-on product by Golden.  "Golden Polymer Varnish with UVLS (Gloss)".  You dilute it with 1 part water to 4 parts varnish (it says this on the bottle so you don't have to remember that I wrote it here), and it goes on easily with a wide paintbrush.  Dries in less than an hour, and a little goes a long way.

One last word of advice:  Dust particles love to get stuck in your paintings when these sealers are drying.  A very effective way I've found to minimize this is to create a little cover to place over your painting immediately after spraying, and while it dries.  I use two small shoeboxes, with a spare piece of mat board over them.  This builds a little "bridge" for the artwork to sit under.  It lets air circulate, but most of the dust stays out.  Good luck!

Where to Buy:
Both the Krylon and the Golden products are widely available.  I buy mine at Joann's, Michael's, or on Amazon.com

I hope this is helpful.  I would love to hear your comments on what works for you.  Happy painting!