Art Restoration

mixing some (cold) (I think the name is Dorland's?) wax into your paint will dull the shine. Try not to use any shiny inredients in your mediums like galkyd or varnish.

Or, you could give the entire painting a semi-gloss varnish (and it would have a consistent surface.)

Thanks Portal, I was thinking of oils only mixed with turpentine then using vaccuum cleaner dust sprayed on the finished area!!! I would
rather not varnish the entire painting.....it is very large!

By the way, this painting is stunning, dark and very dramatic.
Wonderful artistic signature, but not a name anyone would know. The artist sure knew how to use opaque and transparent
oils! This is fun, not work!

If you have the resources and it's not too much trouble, I'd like to see a before and after picture

I will take some before and after digital photos stuh505. Right now the canvas is patched where the hole was and has a layer of white gesso. Later
today I will paint it.

When it is finished, it's fun to see the owner search the painting to try to find the patch. Of course, as I say, if the light catches the new paint at the wrong angle, the patch is noticeable. I don't use any linseed oil and the paint will dry over time.

I still don't have a perfect solution for aging the paint though.

hmm. if I were you, I would try to contact some experts in determining forged oil paintings, because they may be able to let you know some of the common techniques used by oil painting forgers to make their paintings looked aged. I did some searching online and couldn't find anything useful but I'm sure it's out there, you just might have to put in some off-line research.

Hmm... Are you charging the owner whose work you're restoring? I'm hesitant about you doing so without art restoration experience/training.

You have to use something other than turpentine (unless your paints are really cheap and full of filler) or else the paint won't stick to the canvas for very long. You know the rule "fat over lean?" Well, using only turpentine is as lean as you can get. You may want to try mixing in poppy oil, which has a very slow dry time.

Also, gesso will not stay on top of oil paint because it is an acryllic based ground. If you put gesso on top of the existing painting it will probably crack off (with the paint on top of it.) Note that painting on top of varnish that is not retouch varnish will not work.

I wouldn't reccomend getting dust on the painting. That "old" look is probably from whatever was on the surface of the painting (probably varnish) aging and yellowing. Your goal should be to restore the appearance but not damage the existing painting.

There is no fat over lean since I patch the rip/hole in the canvas with canvas, then gesso and paint accordingly.

Portal Star says: "Are you charging the owner whose work you're restoring?" The person whose
s painting I am restoring is entirely aware of and appreciative of my background as a fine artist. There is no deluding going on here......

I don't use any cheap paint only Old Hollands. When repaired, the paintings are enjoyed, not thrown out or forgotten in an attic or basement somewhere because they have suffered the misfortune of damage.

With all due respect, I don't think you know as much as you think you know if you are not using a lipid with your turpentine. What is your training in the field of oil painting?

As long as the people know you aren't able to preserve/protect the painting and that the repair is only for (temporary) looks then that's okey dokey. Professional restorers have to analyze the chemical compounds used and try to restore scientifically. This requires lab equipment, backround research on the artist, and detailed painting skill with both current and historical methods. They also have to distance themselves from their creative side and do what they thought was exactly how the old painting was, not what they think would look good.

Most schools require that you have taken extensive chemistry and know either German or French before giving you a degree in resoration.

I don't mean to burst your bubble, I just believe an artist should be as responsible and knowledgable as possible with their customers.

To answer your question I am an mfa (in oil painting).

Where did you get your MFA/BFA? Did you learn paintng technique? What kind of work do you do and did you do in school?

Also, I read that you are a teacher. Do you teach painting?

Old Holland paints are very good (have a high pigment content) but this pigment content means that they have less binder, and past the first couple layers you need to use a lipid medium with your turp. (Increasing the amount of lipid medium with each successive layer, unless you want cracking.)

Portal, I am not interested in discussing my art
qualifications. The thread is Art Restoration, do
you have any recent successes?

I'm not an art restorator. But I do have a friend who is going to grad school on an art restoration program, and talked to her a lot during my undergrad (which is why I know about art restoration programs.) Also, there is a famous local restorator (whose name I can't recall... But he's the only one in town) who gives lectures at the school.

Portal, I don't pass myself off as a Professional
Museum Art Restorer. Restoration is something I fell into when I purchased a lovely old Scottish
seascape (1899) at an auction. No one wanted it because it had several holes. I restored it and it is one of my favourite possessions. I can feel the spray of the surf and the cry of the gulls as the artist represented them over 100 years ago on that windy coast. (I have a photo but don't know how to upload it).

Restoration is something I love to do and work comes to me by word of mouth. The paintings I restore are from auctions and even garage sales. Their owners have paid little for them and would not be willing to pay high fees for professional restoration. They simply want the painting fixed so that it can be enjoyed in their own homes. I have never had a single compaint about the quality of my repair.

By restoration, do you mean restored to its original patina or, at least, close to it? If the Damar varnish (likely what was used on oil paintings from the 1600's to the present time) is still intact, then all that is needed is cleaning with a fine castile soap mixed with a very small amount of alcohol or methalene chloride. Of couse, carefully testing an area is always imperative whether or not it is a valuable piece or not. 1921 does not qualify the painting as an antique and if it hasn't been authenticated or appraised, have at it. The Windsor Newton restoring liquid is also just fine but rather expensive when buying a lot of little bottles.

If the Damar varnish is worn away and cracked or the painting is cracked, a real restoration is to clean the painting carefully, fill in the cracks with carefully matched color and recoat with Damar. This will give it a glossy finish but colors are intensified by a glossy finish and dulled by a matte finish. Matte finishes contain a silvery powder that refracts light so that it does not reflect well off the pigmentation and especially if it is a glaze painting which relies on the base gesso coating for its changes of values.

Professional restores would, of course, nearly always remove all of the old varnish without effecting the underlying painting. Very delicate and tricky. It's a field onto itself even though I have done it. In the 70's working with the interior designer, I restored all the paintings and antique baroque frames in the collection of Maud McKinley, the heir to Utter McKinley President McKinley's great granduncle. I was in my 30's and had an art gallery and framing operation in Laguna Beach and worked with the designer on many projects. He just happened to trust me as far as how much I did know about restoration which was considerable enough to give him confidence I could do it. I have since done many restorations but not making an occupation of it.

If the painting isn't of much value, I see no reason not to use Damar varnish and introduce a toner into the clear coat. A raw umber mixed with a bit of yellow ochre works well. I've even used that to tone gold leaf to make it look more classic.

BTW, professional restores will not patch tears and holes in the canvas. They will close up the holes and tears from the rear with a specialized epoxy or remount the canvas on good quality thin new canvas. This involes equipment that will vacuum mount the work to the supporting substrate.

Thanks for the wealth of info. LW..... I do patch rips and holes with canvas glued to the back of the painting.I don't try to hide the fact that the painting has been repaired. Sometimes I have backed an entire painting with canvas when original has been very fragile.


LW says "BTW, professional restorers will not patch tears and holes in the canvas. They will close up the holes and tears from the rear with a specialized epoxy or remount the canvas on good quality thin new canvas."

This 1921 painting came with a thick "skin" of
glue where someone had tried (unsuccessfully...
at least over time) to repair a hole. It also has an old patch elsewhere from a previous repair which has held up fine.

The current owner would not be interested in paying for appraisal. I do my best to match the colours, painting style, degree of gloss etc.

I am interested in what you say about a matte
finish...."Matte finishes contain a silvery powder that refracts light so that it does not reflect well off the pigmentation and especially if it is a glaze painting which relies on the base gesso coating for its changes of values."

I wondered if a little dust in the finish might dull it!

I find images that contain a lot of detail to be the easiest to restore almost to the point of invisibility.

Appraisals really start out at about $300.00 with a credentialed appraiser. If it is of value I hate to warn you that if it has been restored by a non-credentialed restorer, the value is greatly reduced.
I would tell him to just enjoy the painting for what it is. It may not be prudent to advise getting it appraised at this stage 'cause it's the cart before the horse.

A little dust would only float into the varnish and create a kind of orange peel effect. Not too desirable and something you'd only notice on close examination. Toning the painting to not look so newly painted can be important. A good compromise is to mix matte with glossy varnish but I haven't even seen Damar in matte but then I haven't looked for it. Acrylic clear coatings have been the mainstay and they are available in semi-gloss (containing a smaller amount of the silvery white powder) and strippable formulas. That way if the varnish gets really soiled, it can be removed with chemicals that will not attack oils or acrylics. The remover is available at an art supply source as well.

LW, as mentioned before, I am not a professional
museum type art restorer. I am an artist not a
scientist. I find that there is no one recipe-fits-all
when it to comes to art restoring. Each case has its own
quirks and variables. My goal is to introduce as little intervention as possible when repairing a painting.

I assume that at the price point I am talking about, it is a one in a several thousand chance that a severely damaged painting will end up being
worth a lot of money. I don't determine whether the painting is worth appraisal and professional art restoration, that is up to the purchaser.

For my own part, for the money, I would far rather a consumer buys an original oil painting and gets it repaired than spend the same dollars on a framed art commercial print.

I'm in agreement on consumers buying original art even if very old and damaged over buying one of the overpriced commercial limited edition prints.

You had mentioned the one client had said something about getting an appraisal which is why I offered that they perhaps should be informed they should get an appraisal before the restoration. A quick check on the Internet for the artist's name will likely reveal whether it's a candidate for an appraisal. You are following the right course in letting the client make up their mind to have a piece restored if they didn't pay a great deal of money for the piece. Auction houses, for instance, will nearly always try to find the artist listed in, for instance, "Who's Who in American Art"
and start the bidding according to what they find there as well as other sources. It's difficult if not almost impossible to find "lost treasures."