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Restoring a Watercolour Painting

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Snoopy

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May 2, 2002, 7:38:07 AM5/2/02
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I have a watercolour painting, around 100 years old that is showing a
bit of 'rust' (brown patches in the lighter colours). I understand
there are firms about who can deal with such a problem. Anyone know
of anybody in Christchurch that restores old paintings? SNOOPY


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T-Boy

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May 2, 2002, 8:24:09 AM5/2/02
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In article <3cd11c5f...@newsdirect.caverock.net.nz>,
tenn...@caverock.net.nz.NO_SPAM says...

> I have a watercolour painting, around 100 years old that is showing a
> bit of 'rust' (brown patches in the lighter colours). I understand
> there are firms about who can deal with such a problem. Anyone know
> of anybody in Christchurch that restores old paintings? SNOOPY

Do you not read this newsgroup much.

There is no excuse

--
Duncan

Paul Wilkins

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May 2, 2002, 7:08:58 PM5/2/02
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In article <MPG.173bf7186...@news.chc.ihugultra.co.nz>,
Ha...@Work.ok says...

No excuse for what? For making enquiries on the environs of Christchurch?

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Paul Wilkins
| /\ Inform yourself | Paul Wilkins | When you ask a computer person to
| /__\ Project Mayhem | Christchurch | fix your machine, they will first
| http://tetrica.com/ | (03) 3433097 | spend hours downloading upgrades.

Richard Grevers

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May 3, 2002, 7:09:29 AM5/3/02
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In article <MPG.173c14f05...@news.paradise.net.nz>, Paul
Wilkins said...

> In article <MPG.173bf7186...@news.chc.ihugultra.co.nz>,
> Ha...@Work.ok says...
> > In article <3cd11c5f...@newsdirect.caverock.net.nz>,
> > tenn...@caverock.net.nz.NO_SPAM says...
> > > I have a watercolour painting, around 100 years old that is showing a
> > > bit of 'rust' (brown patches in the lighter colours). I understand
> > > there are firms about who can deal with such a problem. Anyone know
> > > of anybody in Christchurch that restores old paintings? SNOOPY
> >
> > Do you not read this newsgroup much.
> >
> > There is no excuse
>
> No excuse for what? For making enquiries on the environs of Christchurch?
>
>
I think it was a feeble attempt at humour, suggesting that Snoopy should
have made a backup of his painting before it crashed through rust
corruption (as per a recent thread).
Do Symantec make a watercolour verion of Norton Ghost? :-)

T-Boy

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May 3, 2002, 9:14:47 PM5/3/02
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In article <MPG.173d37122...@news.xtra.co.nz>,
newsfe...@dramatic.co.nz.invalid says...

All wrong. No, I was referring to Snoopy's lack of attention to a guy
that regularly posts here, by the name of Corky - and does photo
restoration work.

--
Duncan

Snoopy

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May 4, 2002, 7:06:00 AM5/4/02
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On Sat, 4 May 2002 13:14:47 +1200, T-Boy <Ha...@Work.ok> wrote:
>
>
>All wrong. No, I was referring to Snoopy's lack of attention to a guy
>that regularly posts here, by the name of Corky - and does photo
>restoration work.
>
>
I realise some of the old painters were almost photorealistic in their
images. But Duncan, you do realise there is a difference between a
watercolour painting and a photograph don't you? Unless you are
suggesting that Corky uses his imaging knowledge to indulge in some
art forgery on the side?

I just want the original painting restored. I don't want a copy! If
none of you can some up with any suggestions, I just might have to do
something desperate: like ask the art gallery!

Ross Dawson

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May 4, 2002, 11:14:09 PM5/4/02
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How did it get damaged snoopy, were you admiring it whilst facing the
wrong way and cocked your hind leg :)

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Cheers for now

Ross Dawson.

Snoopy

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May 5, 2002, 6:12:13 AM5/5/02
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On Sun, 05 May 2002 15:14:09 +1200, Ross Dawson <rda...@xtra.co.nz>
wrote:

>>
>>
>>I just want the original painting restored. I don't want a copy! If
>>none of you can some up with any suggestions, I just might have to do
>>something desperate: like ask the art gallery!
>>
>>
>How did it get damaged snoopy, were you admiring it whilst facing the
>wrong way and cocked your hind leg :)
>
>
It's not damaged Ross. It was stuck in an attic and there are a
couple of brown spots in the sky. Some sort of fungus? I don't
know. If you stick it on a wall and don't peer too closely you might
not even notice. But it's going to get worse not better. So time for
some attention before it gets bad. I'm not sure how this is done:
Some sort of chemical treatment? The judicious use of a touch up
brush? I'm not really sure what is required, which is why I want to
take it to an expert.

All in all the painting in good shape, but it is 100 years old. I'd
say it's in much better shape than the Queen Mother's nappies, which
would also be around 100 by now. And I know which of those two I'd
prefer to have hanging on the wall, and is more worthy of restoration!


Perhaps even you Ross, might get a little tatty around the edges on
reaching such an advanced age?

SNOOPY



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Ross Dawson

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May 5, 2002, 6:28:49 PM5/5/02
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I'm pretty worn out noe snoopy, let alone what I will be like when I
reach 100.:))

Snoopy

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May 6, 2002, 8:58:25 PM5/6/02
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On Sat, 04 May 2002 11:06:00 GMT, tenn...@caverock.net.nz.NO_SPAM
(Snoopy) wrote:
>
>
>I just want the original painting restored. I don't want a copy! If
>none of you can some up with any suggestions, I just might have to do
>something desperate: like ask the art gallery!
>
>
I followed my own suggestion and contacted the art gallery. They do
free appraisals on paintings (which is something I didn't know). So i
took the painting in and they sent a person up from the basement to
look at it.

I had quite an enlightening chat. There were two kinds of
deterioration in my painting to look at fixing. There were some spots
on the (cardboard?) inner perimeter of the frame caused by some sort
of fungus (due to moisture). But the main brown marks on the painting
itself were due to sunlight operating on the paper on which the
painting was painted. Apparently up until the 1500s the only paper
available was cloth based which is much higher quality than the paper
stuff we get today. This is why the 'old masters' don't deteriorate
as much as the more modern (one to two hundred year old) stuff. It
was suggested that the painting be first spot tested to see if the
colours run in different areas, then soaked in water if they don't.
That might be sufficient to get the marks in the sky out, but if not,
the painting might have to be spot bleached. It's not a cheap
process. I'm not expecting much change out of $300.

The art gallery is heavily involved in packing stuff up, to be
transported to the new art gallery. As a result there is not much
restoration work going on, so some of the staff are keen to do some
work 'on the side' (in the weekend in their own time) to keep their
hand in with restoration techniques. Of course, this cannot be
advertised publicly. I'm not even sure if I should name the staff
member I talked to or it might get them into trouble! But it would
seem that if you want an old painting restored now is a good time to
go down to the art gallery 'for a chat'.

Richard Grevers

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May 7, 2002, 2:26:39 AM5/7/02
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In article <3cd7136a...@news.caverock.net.nz>, Snoopy said...

> On Sat, 04 May 2002 11:06:00 GMT, tenn...@caverock.net.nz.NO_SPAM
> (Snoopy) wrote:
> >
> >
> >I just want the original painting restored. I don't want a copy! If
> >none of you can some up with any suggestions, I just might have to do
> >something desperate: like ask the art gallery!
> >
It would be interesting to see what the quote from commercial restorers
like Fishers would be, Snoops.
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