Painting restoration repair can be difficult, and certainly requires a lot of time, patience and energy. Should you have a badly damaged artwork, then consider applying the following repair ideas and strategies. If done right, these methods can help bring back your painting to its best condition.
Undoubtedly, a painting restoration professional's worst nightmare is a badly flaking and scorching oil painting. These extremely damaged artwork could be a problem for the most advanced repair specialist. When fixing a flaking and blistering oil painting, consider using the following restoration tips and methods.
Fixing paintings with holes and tears is best done through a process of "recanvassing." Essentially recanvassing consists of purchasing a brand-new canvas, and taking out the oil painting's original canvas. As with any painting restoration step, take extreme care with detaching the canvas from an old artwork. Much more harm is made on an annual basis by people trying to repair paintings, than fire and robbery combined.
Do onions make you cry? Well if they really do then become accustomed to crying! Onions work great when repairing artworks. The same chemicals which make your tear ducts well up also work to get rid of stubborn grit, dirt and grime from oil paintings. The process of painting restoration has included onions for decades or even centuries. The secret is to slice the onion in half and carefully rub the onion in a circular manner across the painting. Make sure to keep light pressure on the onion. Do not press down hard on the canvas, because the onion might easily make a hole or tear in the oil painting.
Aside from onions, beeswax is yet another gift from nature that can also help to restore paintings. Restoring paintings by combining beeswax with damar is another age-old strategy which has been used throughout the years. Mixing up beeswax with damar is referred to as "Dutch Style" painting restoration. Covering a painting with beeswax and damar helps to prevent the oil from separating from the canvas. Once again take extreme caution when using the mixture. Use a light, circular rubbing method to avoid creating more holes and tears. Usually a cotton ball is used to repair artwork in this fashion.
Over the entire painting restoration process, remember that different shades and colors will respond differently to the methods described in this article. More often than not (especially with regards to oil paintings)lighter colors will repair superbly. The grime and dirt that is embedded in lighter colors is usually taken off easily, which is definitely a great news for the painting restoration professional. However darker colors can be a lot more persistent. Take great patience when restoring paintings with lots of dark colors. It might take a little more time and energy to get those dark colors glowing like new.
In summary, always keep in mind that a majority of amateur painting restorations result in more damage than good. It's very easy to ruin a painting, particularly an old oil painting, with all the above mentioned methods. Nevertheless a full and remarkable painting restoration can happen with the hand of a skilled and patient professional. If you have a painting that's in desperate need of restoring, then go ahead and apply all these strategies. Just make sure to keep a light hand and sharp eye on the methods you use for oil painting restoration repair.