Varnishing this WIP oil painting so I can continue working on it

This painting is NOT finished and I usually don't add varnish at this time, but let me explain a little more...

I started picking this up again after being on my easel for a bit (and frustrated with it) and realized an issue I was having. I used an acrylic matte black base initially which seemed like a great idea, but is actually absorbing everything I put down, so it is difficult to see what the colors of mixes and various pigments might actually be. I wet the whole thing with gamsol yesterday but gamsol is a mineral spirit and can degrade the oil paint beneath it (esp if it's not fully dry) and it absorbed in quickly. Minutes later and it was back to a dull matte .

Usually I am a very thin painter. Many thin layers build up to the final thing. In areas where the oil is thick or just applied (i.e. the body) it looks as it should and doesn't need a varnish on top to pull out the sheen. But for everywhere else, this will be necessary.

Even though the gamvar is bleeding some areas I applied (it has some mineral spirits in it) last night it's fine for this style of painting. I chose gamvar because it is formulated to allow oil paints to dry beneath it, even if the surface is dry to the touch. I also thought it would be the least likely thing to yellow.

Still, it might take me more than 1 layer to get the matte to kick down enough to start working again. I apparently did not learn (forgot) when I used this black on another smaller painting ("Water's Edge") that this was an issue. If after a layer or two it's still matte, I'll do a layer of pure liquin, even though that's definitely not what that's for, but it'll get me far enough I can start building on it again