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Gloss, Matt and Satin: Choosing a Finish
Two artists using the same set of colours can produce visibly different results, and the difference is often nothing to do with the paint. Finish — how much light the dried surface reflects — changes perceived colour more than most people expect.
What finish does to colour
Gloss
A glossy surface reflects light directionally, so more of the light entering the paint film comes back out through it. Colours look deeper and more saturated, and the difference between dark values increases. Blacks look black rather than grey.
The trade-off is reflection. Under a window or a spotlight, a glossy surface shows glare and every ridge and brushmark in the paint.
Matt
A matt surface scatters light. Colours look flatter and lighter, contrast drops, and darks lift towards grey. Surface irregularities disappear, which is genuinely useful over a pour that did not level perfectly.
The trade-off is that deep colours lose depth. A rich black under matt varnish reads as charcoal.
Satin
Between the two, and the safe default for work that will hang in a room with unpredictable light. Enough reflection to hold colour depth, not enough to glare.
Blending your own
Gloss and matt mediums from the same range mix in any proportion, which means you are not limited to three choices. Mix a little matt into gloss for a low-sheen satin, or a little gloss into matt to bring darks back without adding shine.
Mix enough for the whole piece and keep a note of the proportion. Matching a sheen later is harder than matching a colour.
Fluid and pouring mediums are listed with their finish under pouring and fluid mediums.
Finish in the medium versus finish in the varnish
Both routes work and they do different things.
Mixing a gloss or matt medium into the paint affects each passage individually, so you can have a glossy focal area and matt surroundings within one piece. That is a compositional tool.
Varnishing at the end unifies the whole surface. It also protects the work and, done properly, can be removed by a conservator later.
Varnishing properly
- Wait for cure, not dry. Acrylic is touch-dry in hours and cured in weeks. Varnish too early and you trap moisture in the film.
- Apply an isolation coat first — a layer of gloss medium over the finished paint. This separates paint from varnish so the varnish can be removed without lifting the work.
- Thin even coats. Two thin coats beat one thick one every time.
- Work in one direction, then the next coat at right angles.
- Dust-free, level, moderate temperature. Lay the piece flat while it dries so the varnish levels rather than running.
Common problems
Cloudy or milky varnish
Applied too thick, applied in high humidity, or applied over paint that had not cured. Brooklyn summers make the humidity version common — varnish on a dry day.
Uneven sheen
Usually an absorbent surface soaking up varnish unevenly. An isolation coat prevents it.
Brush marks
Too thick, or the varnish was already tacking as it was brushed. Work faster and thinner, and do not go back over an area that has started to set.
Finish beyond varnish
Surface texture affects perceived finish as much as chemistry. Heavily textured impasto reads as more matt than smooth paint of the same formulation, because the texture scatters light regardless of the medium used.
That is worth remembering when a piece looks flatter than the swatch suggested — the medium may be doing exactly what it should, and the surface is doing something else.
Choosing for the work
- Deep, saturated, high-contrast work: gloss.
- Soft, atmospheric, tonal work: matt.
- Anything that will hang in variable light: satin.
- Work to be photographed: matt or satin, because gloss fights the camera.
- Work on paper: matt usually suits the substrate better.
Test on a scrap painted with the same colours before committing. Sheen is difficult to judge from a bottle.
Colour sets are under acrylic paint sets and watercolor sets. We are on 3rd Avenue — ask us, see the FAQ, or browse the range.
From our shelves
Products in this store that relate to what is covered above:
Prices are in US dollars. Delivery timings are on our shipping policy page and the return and refund policy sets out the window if something is not right.
Key points
- Finish is a property of the medium and the varnish, not of the pigment.
- Gloss deepens colour and raises contrast; matt flattens both and hides surface flaws.
- Gloss and matt mediums of the same brand can be blended to make any satin in between.
- Matt finishes scatter light, which is why dark colours look grey under a matt varnish.
- Apply varnish in thin even coats, and only after the paint has cured rather than dried.
- An isolation coat between paint and varnish makes the varnish removable later.
