My varnishing set-up

I completed a couple of eggs for my usual Friday Egg schedule, but I ended up having to varnish them instead of taking "boudoir photos" of the eggs.  I can only put varnish on when the weather is clear and dry and it has been raining here for what seems like weeks! So here we are in my dark and dreary garage workroom, where I will show you how I put varnish on eggs.

I have really struggled with this step in the process. The problem is getting a smooth coat of varnish on a round surface.  I tried using the drying board with nails that various Pysanky egg suppliers sell, but that never worked because the egg would stick to the nail tips and either a bit of varnish or a bit of the eggshell itself would break off! Not good. Spray varnish is another way to go, and it is okay, but I am not patient and end up with drips and dribbles because I spray far too heavy of a coat instead of lots of thin ones.  Plus I found that it is much more expensive as well as wasteful.

Now I use varnish out of a can (Liquitex or Golden MSA) and apply it with a fan brush, which allows a bit thinner coating.  To keep the eggshell supported without touching it, I use lengths of floral wire inside the original hole from blowing out the egg contents. I insert the wire into blocks of floral styrofoam or a block of styrofoam mailing popcorn.

Here I am using my drying board to support the egg while I varnish it.

 I start with the egg vertical and brush varnish on the top and sides.  Then I flip it over and get the bottom part of the egg.  Finally, I brush from bottom to top on all sides until I feel that I have gotten good and even coverage.

As much as I can, I try to keep the coats light because I don't monitor for drips and hate getting a dried up bump at the bottom that I have to sand off or cut off with an X-acto blade.  One good thing about using the floral wire is that extra varnish will often drip down and off the egg completely.

Here's the egg stuck into styrofoam and ready to dry out:

Oh, and one last thing:  DON'T USE WATER-BASED VARNISH!!!  I learned the hard way when the guy at the hardware store steered me wrong.  Just make sure it is the one with health hazard warnings all over the can and you will be safe.  You might not be healthy, but you will be safe in knowing you are using the right varnish.

If you have any tips or ideas that you think might make this process easier, I would love to hear them.

Best Kistka

I have used several brands of electric kistka over the years and my personal opinion is that the best one is from Wax Art Supply.

This brand was designed by a mechanical engineer and it really shows!  The tips provide a consistent wax line that rarely skips or clogs up.  They have a great selection of tip sizes from extra heavy to triple extra fine. The tips I have used the most are the fine, double extra fine, medium and heavy.  It has tremendously helped my artwork as I can now get all those lovely and amazing details that are in my head onto the egg.  In addition to the different tip sizes, you can also buy either a fixed tip or an interchangeable tip that has a small screw that holds the tip tight.  As a testament to how great these tools are, I used my grandmother's Wax Art Supply interchangeable tip kistka that she got sometime in the 80's (it could even have been the 70's!) until it finally died last year in 2009 - that's at least 20 years.

Please take a look at them if you are in the market for an electric kistka.  I know you will be happy.