Sealing and Varnishing Your Work

You have two choices when you paint in watercolors on an alternate support such as clayboard or watercolor canvas: you can frame behind glass as with a traditional watercolor, taking the same precautions that the painting itself does not come into direct contact with the glass and that there is a space between the artwork and the glass or you can seal your work and frame as an oil or acrylic painting. Because paint lifts so easily off of these surfaces, for my part, I feel safest sealing and varnishing.

The later definitely has some advantage. If you paint on large surfaces, a matted painting framed behind glass can be an expensive purchase and a heavy one for hanging. Some artists have remarked that paintings on the larger sized watercolor canvas sealed and varnished sell better because of they are easier to frame and the frames, lighter without the glass. There is a school of thought that also recognizes the fact that oils sell at higher prices than watercolors. Perhaps it