Oh how I wish we had our varnish again!
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Yeah itās definitely safe to use as varnish, it most certainly protects the paint.
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I was going to say the same thing. Even though they say it is not a substitute for varnish. I use thick medium for skin texture, I usually go over it with a very thin layer of very diluted matte, only because unfortunately my jars of thick medium are not matte, they turn very glossy after baking a few times. But Iāve tried to strip a few babies over the years that I had textured with thick medium and it is extremely difficult to remove, way harder than varnish. Iām not sure what protections vanish has that the thick medium doesnāt, but it definitely definitely offers an extremely durable protective coating over your paint when used full strength anyways.
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Just thinking out loud hereā¦
Making a comparison between Air dry paint mediums and Genesis. With air dry paint, most mediums are also different varations of polymers that are in the paints with no pigments added to them. Some have more matting agents, some more fluid etc. Most mediums do not contain UV protection with the exception of one I know of by Golden that is a gloss medium with UV protection in it. Most all air dry mediums can be used as an Isolation coat to protect and lock the paint job from being removed by a solvent such as ammonia. Not all variations are well suited for it as some do dry to a tacky finish so that is a consideration when choosing one for an Isolation coat. Typically the less matte ones do better for that. Some air dry varnishes are removable with ammonia and some are not. One definitely must apply an Isolation coat first before a removable varnish if you plan to remove the varnish later for touch ups or revarnishing. The purpose of the varnish is to protect the finish.
SO taking what I know about air dry mediums and theorizing that Genesis may work somewhat the same, then one could use the mediums such as the Thick Medium as an Isolation coat. This would indeed lock the paint colors down and protect them from removal should a removable varnish be applied over them that would later be removed with ammonia. I do not remember if Genesis Matte Varnish is considered removable or not as in being able to be removed with a solvent like ammonia. I think Genesis Matte Varnish does contain UV protection whereas the mediums do not. Also as pointed out here, the mediums may not leave a totally matte finish.
I think the conclusion can be derived that Genesis Mediums can be used as an Isolation Coat (ie sealer) but they are still not a varnish so they do differ. It is up to the individual as whether or not they want to apply a varnish of some type over them. Genesis has always said their paints do not have to be varnished to be permanent.
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