Bring your Picture back to Life with Oil Painting Repair

If you have a picture that has a tears or hole in the canvas, one procedure used to repair it is by flattening the present canvas, and applying a new piece of canvas to the back and touching up the paint. You can apply the new piece of canvas over the hole or the area that is torn or if the canvas is in really bad shape or shows signs of deterioration, you can cover the entire back, which is called re-canvassing, or re-lining.

To do this you start by flattening the corners of the tear or hole by using Damar or a Beeswax mixture to attach a piece of canvas to the back of the picture.

With a tear you will want to start by tightening the tear by waxing long narrow strips and placing the on the tear, first on one side and then on the other after the first side cools, proceed by pulling the tear close together by the end of the strip.

If you encounter a tear that is a little bigger, start by applying the first strip across the center of the tear and then add another strip to one side the center strip, leaving a gap the width of a strip on the other side for later insertion; make sure to alternate you pulls from opposite directions in order to insure and even pull across the tear. Once this is completed, inset the remaining strips into the gaps in order to cover the entire area of the tear.

After you finish, be sure to check the canvas by lay it in a natural position to make sure you do not have an unpleasant bumps, bulges, fibers or wrinkles. You can use a metal hook heated to straighten out any crooked fibers that you might find.

You can remove any excess wax you might find in the front with a solution of turpentine, be sure to give the picture a break for a while.

If the picture is in need of a complete re-lining you will need to have it repaired by re-Canvassing or re-lining. Once the paper on your canvas has dried, make sure the paper has properly adhered before removing the strips. You can do this by slightly warming the canvas strips; be sure to do this before you re-line your canvas.

After you have finished repairing the tear or hole you can finish repairing your picture from the front.

You need to fill all the tears or hole with a mixture that can be made by dissolving some fish glue or gelatin in warm water; you then add a little chalk to thicken the mixture making it a putty like substance.

Apply this solution to the holes or tears; be sure to remove any excess mixture before it dries with warm water. Once it’s dried you are ready to restore the coloring of your painting.
You can do this with pigment and egg yolk, not only does the dry faster, but it is easier to remove if the something goes wrong with the restoration, finish your canvas by adding a coat of varnish.

Copyright 2007 Janice J. Sterling - All Rights Reserved

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