Monday 1 July 2019

Oil Painting Restoration Brings Life Back to Old Artwork


Oil Painting Restoration Brings Life Back to Old Artwork

Whether you purchased an oil painting just last year or have had the piece of artwork in your family for generations, it may suffer from surface dirt, damage from smoke, and discolouration of the varnish. Oil painting restoration gets rid of all these and other problems so you can enjoy your chosen wall decoration once more. Artwork requires professional services from someone who understands what to use and how to use it in order to avoid damage.

Why Your Artwork Needs Painting Restoration

The pictures you hang on your walls provide multiple benefits. First, they beautify your home and give you something attractive to look at. They add to the overall ambience and style of the rooms and tie together décor in an attractive and engaging manner. Also, some pieces of artwork are true investments that can increase in value over time.

Oil painting are not usually covered by glass, of course, so the environmental pollutants, dust, smoke, and accumulated debris of years affects the surface of the paint and exposed canvas continuously. Things like temperature changes and humidity also affect the paintings over time. This can lead to discolouration, surface damage, and deterioration of the backing that holds the picture stable and taut.

The Oil Painting Restoration Process

The words used to describe the restoration process seem simple. Experts speak of cleaning, repair, and stabilisation. However, the actual characteristics of these methods require much more than what people may think. Paint and brush strokes exist in layers over the stretched canvas. The varnish lays over that, with the grime, dust, and stains above all else. Cleaning a painting requires more than using the right solution and scrubbing away some dirt.

Unprofessional attempts at oil painting restoration may damage or even destroy the work of the artist directly. As your goal includes seeing everything that they originally created quite clearly and as intended, trusting the work to just anyone makes no sense. Do not take such a risk with your home decorations or family heirlooms.

Instead, trust someone with the skills and experience in painting restoration necessary to get the job done correctly. Each layer of dust, dirt, smoke residue, and discoloured varnish is painstakingly removed. This begins to reveal all the original beauty and colour of the piece. Repairs can remove or minimize the appearance of cracks, colour loss, and other damage. Structural damage or weaknesses are eliminated no matter what material the original backing was. Finally, paintings that languished in unsuitable or damaged frames can be reborn with new, custom-fit ones that augment the artwork rather than detract from it.

Expert oil painting restoration services take time. With such important individual tasks required to remove the dirt and discolouration of years, you cannot expect a speedy turnaround. Nor should you want it. Every inch of you oil painting receives the utmost care to gradually strip away the layers that do not below and reveal those that the artist laid down on the canvas originally.

Professional oil painting restoration available here: https://www.theoriginalartworkstore.com

Saturday 25 May 2013




"Over time, the vibrancy and physical condition of a painting can be compromised by many things — the smoke from fireplaces, from years of tobacco smoke, the effects of water damage from floods and burst pipes, damage incurred during display or storage, darkening due to the chemical changes of the original picture varnish, and simply the slow deterioration caused by air born dust". 

Restoration is the general term used to describe a range of processes that can be done to restore an oil painting to its original aesthetic appearance. In broad terms, these processes include:


                   Surface Cleaning
Cleaning of dirt, smoke, grime and the accumulated “stuff” that adheres to the surface of an oil painting

Varnish Removal
 Most oil paintings have had at least one coat of a varnish applied as both a protection as well as for its effect of enhancing colours. Over time, varnish begins to darken. Combined with the accumulation of years of dirt, smoke and grime, the result is a painting that has become dark with many details obscured or lost. Varnished paintings, however, do tend to be more resistant to mould and damage than oil paintings that have never been varnished. 

Damage to Picture support
Repair of holes, scratches, peeling, chipping or other damage to the surface of the painting(canvas, panel or board). Many paintings have been damaged by accidents, vandalism, attempts by untrained persons to “clean” them, and poor storage or display. Exposure to, or submersion in, water can cause the paint to begin separating from its support. Mould is often detected first as a whitish discolouration or the common dark “circles.” Holes need to be patched, and “in-painting” needs to be done to match the colours and return the painting to a near new condition.

New Protective Varnish
Application of new varnish. Similar to the last step when a painting was newly painted, a varnish is applied to protect valuable art so it is again ready for many more years of enjoyment. 

An oil painting is a work of art. While many individuals can learn to clean a painting, kill mould, and even repair a small tear or hole, it is the careful reapplication of paint to the surface of the painting that reveals the difference between having a painting restored by a technician or a true artist! The careful and precise mixing and application of oil paint, replicating the original artist’s technique, will allow a casual or trained viewer to enjoy a unified work of art.

That is why when you entrust your precious work of art to The Original Artwork Store you can rest assured it will be in the safe hands of our in house skilled Artist/ Restorer.
Please find out more:

Monday 4 March 2013

Painting Restorer


"Over time, the vibrancy and physical condition of a painting can be compromised by many things — the smoke from fireplaces, from years of tobacco smoke, the effects of water damage from floods and burst pipes, damage incurred during display or storage, darkening due to the chemical changes of the original picture varnish, and simply the slow deterioration caused by air born dust". 

Restoration is the general term used to describe a range of processes that can be done to restore an oil painting to its original aesthetic appearance. In broad terms, these processes include:


                   Surface Cleaning
Cleaning of dirt, smoke, grime and the accumulated “stuff” that adheres to the surface of an oil painting

Varnish Removal
 Most oil paintings have had at least one coat of a varnish applied as both a protection as well as for its effect of enhancing colours. Over time, varnish begins to darken. Combined with the accumulation of years of dirt, smoke and grime, the result is a painting that has become dark with many details obscured or lost. Varnished paintings, however, do tend to be more resistant to mould and damage than oil paintings that have never been varnished. 

Damage to Picture support
Repair of holes, scratches, peeling, chipping or other damage to the surface of the painting(canvas, panel or board). Many paintings have been damaged by accidents, vandalism, attempts by untrained persons to “clean” them, and poor storage or display. Exposure to, or submersion in, water can cause the paint to begin separating from its support. Mould is often detected first as a whitish discolouration or the common dark “circles.” Holes need to be patched, and “in-painting” needs to be done to match the colours and return the painting to a near new condition.

New Protective Varnish
Application of new varnish. Similar to the last step when a painting was newly painted, a varnish is applied to protect valuable art so it is again ready for many more years of enjoyment. 

An oil painting is a work of art. While many individuals can learn to clean a painting, kill mould, and even repair a small tear or hole, it is the careful reapplication of paint to the surface of the painting that reveals the difference between having a painting restored by a technician or a true artist! The careful and precise mixing and application of oil paint, replicating the original artist’s technique, will allow a casual or trained viewer to enjoy a unified work of art.

That is why when you entrust your precious work of art to The Original Artwork Store you can rest assured it will be in the safe hands of our in house skilled Artist/ Restorer.
Please find out more: