Once again, I drew a bird on Claybord using ink (mostly fountain pens and Faber Castell Pitt Pens) and scratchboard techniques. This time, it’s an American Tree Sparrow, one of my favorite backyard birds.

I sprayed several coats of Spectrafix Final Fixative and then poured Natural Glass Varnish over it. When it comes to pouring, I’m a novice. I found it’s easier to tape the panel to a plastic cup so I can hold it and tilt it this way and that while pouring the varnish. I catch the excess in a container. This method creates a fairly thick layer, and it takes about five or six hours to dry. I always find some dust particles in the surface, but if I truly minded, I’d sand it and do another coat.

I tried to replicate the lighting from one day to the next to show the difference between unvarnished (left) and varnished (right), but it was a little darker today, but the color is a bit richer overall. The end result has a light gloss which I love.