Why Was This Painting Made on Metal?

Not every drawing comes in to the studio during a crisis Some do not require intervention or further treatment structural or dramatic changes Above all what they really need is something just a bit more noticeable This small painting has survived for over 200 years I'm not involved in the protest I'm not going ahead It's only about the protest The drawing has just come into the studio The drawing is barely visible The frames have received some notes and bumps and further repairs are on the way It's time for them to get a little TLC now Felly images like this are constantly coming into the studio That's what draws them to the paths That's my important work I'm happy to share this with you today and give this sketch a little TLC Hey I'm back Welcome back to the studio I've got this wonderful-looking painting that's just come in for you It's going to be a little different It's on tin It's not on canvas It's not on board It requires a clean and there's a little bit of restoration work to do on the frame as well Alright let's get started This is a private client's painting he purchased it for his daughter who is an avid musician and he simply wants it cleaned up He wants it cleaned and some repairs done to the frame So before I do that I'm just going to put the painting under UV light And this will reveal what’s actually happening Any new paint will appear darker Just a touch near the easel there A few small marks right there His face looks quite good Those gentlemen in the back look sharp There are a few small details near his fingers And then everything looks pretty good This is a small area that appears to have been slightly scraped across the top There appears to be some paint residue or markings that need attention but the main part of the painting looks good I'm not overly worried about extensive historical restoration here Next I'm going to remove it from the frame As mentioned earlier this painting is on tin It was relatively inexpensive lightweight and durable resisting warping like wood and offering less vulnerability to puncture than canvas Thus it was perfect for small cabinet paintings—works intended to be handled collected and moved about rather than permanently hung in a grand interior And as you can see here this painting has a slight movement within the frame and these corks have been glued in place to secure it So if you look there's a gap on the rebate on the left side and along that bottom edge These corks have simply been glued in place to secure it And I'm not sure what kind of glue was used but you can see it has dripped and there's also residue around the edges I'm just hoping that hasn't ended up on the front of the painting But we'll see once we get the picture out This glue they've used is surprisingly tenacious—it's remarkably strong My scalpel has loosened it slightly and I'm just going to use my spatula now This is incredibly thin—the tip of this spatula So I should just be able to slide this underneath and then pop the cork out Here you are Using a cork is a standard practice for paintings but it's usually just secured with a thin pin driven in at angle So it 's quite unusual to see so much glue used But I think it's just because the rebate is rather large—too big for the image really That’s why they had to secure it and glue it in place Not something I’m particularly fond of but it’s been in there for a while And then we can simply remove it and take a look at the painting In fact it's also slightly glued into the frame Just caught on And then here's the complete image outside the frame We can see that the glue has affected both the left and right sides as well as the top and bottom of the picture I'm not entirely sure what it is It appears synthetic particularly that white residue We'll need to deal with that too when we get to cleaning But it's nice to see it outside the frame and appreciate the image as a whole I'll just show you how that looks from the side the damage It's almost as if it's oxidized and turned white It's not thick at all It's just seeped into that paint layer I'm hoping it's only on the surface You can also see some very minor losses there The painting is so flat There's no life to it at all It's truly utterly dull There's a sheen I don't know probably from nicotine or tobacco residue Smoke damage throughout the entire image as well And I'm pretty sure there's a varnish on there that will need to be removed I'll start with my test and see what happens right away That's already quite strong So we have a layer of sooty smoke residue sitting on top And that solution is quite It reacted very quickly Let's just try the bottom edge and see if it matches the same color tone Once more it's similar to a dark sooty residue Yet it came off quite easily So I might just dilute that mixture And this is the weaker solution now So you can see that it's still cleaning It's still removing that residue But it doesn't saturate the swab as quickly That makes it a bit safer for me I know I can clean this painting without risking going too deep So this is the approach I'll take as I move across the painting So I've increased my swab size It's not gigantic by any stretch But it'll allow me to tackle larger areas more efficiently And you can see that the color is kind of like I don't know almost a golden brown sort of shade As the swab removes more of that layer it will darken Then it will be time to replace the swab I sometimes find that the paint at the edges of a painting can be a bit thicker perhaps because the residue naturally gathers there in the rebate And as you move into the rest of the painting the effect becomes more uniform But again it depends on where it's been hung and what the surrounding area is like or how close it is to the source of soot or smoke whether it's a candle or an open flame But the change you hear won't be dramatic Yes this saturates the painting once more But I'm only aiming for minimal adjustments here I'm paying closer attention to the swab than to the painting itself But what's nice is you begin to notice what's unfolding in this scene The musician's gaze is fixed on the view outside the window But I'm genuinely curious about what those two gentlemen are up to in the background I haven't the faintest idea yet I just can't figure it out But there does appear to be some sort of artist's easel in the background So I'm eager to discover what's happening in the rest of this image By the late 17th and into the 18th century there was a strong appetite for genre scenes like this across northern Europe—musicians tavern interiors everyday life They weren’t grand historical paintings They weren’t religious They were character studies brief narrative glimpses And this tradition traces back to artists like Adrian van Ostade and David Teniers the Younger painters who transformed peasant interiors and tavern scenes into an art form Even Jan Steen with his dramatic storytelling fueled the public's fascination with these vibrant lively domestic moments And if you search for old Dutch painting or Dutch master painting you'll invariably come across small works like this one usually brimming with characters some more compelling than others Some are rather grotesque but there's a genuine market and demand for this kind of artwork What we're seeing here isn't a masterpiece by one of these well-known established artists but it firmly belongs to that same tradition It's a commercial collectible Dutch Flemish Golden Age miniature narrative work and for me that's precisely what makes it charming—the story it quietly tells As I'm cleaning now I can see this grapevine growing up the outside with actual bunches of grapes on it and the foliage is looking much cleaner We also have this birdcage I'm not sure if I've actually seen the bird yet And those gentlemen in the background are gradually coming into focus And I'm still not entirely sure what's going on over that table It almost looks like they're struggling over something or maybe he's holding his hands down I'm not sure What do you all think is happening in this interior Let me know in the comments One of the most striking differences I'm noticing is the foliage on the grapevine It's painted beautifully with light coming from the top right And it's simply capturing those vine leaves And you can see the delicate trails of the vine spreading outward There's vibrant color in the mature leaves on the left But what I'm also noticing in this interior is that it's almost like a dome—this curved dome So is this suggesting the top of this room is like a domed arched area I'm not entirely sure Then there's something that appears to be hanging in the left-hand corner above those two gentlemen There are interesting details inside that are nicely revealed I've got the light hitting that windowpane and the carved stonework too so it's brightening up There's much more depth to this picture now And it's subtly revealing little story elements which is quite nice I wonder if that's the guy with the black hat on I wonder if he's actually filling his pipe He looks like he might be lighting it But what's nice about this kind of painting is that your mind is free to wander And if you take the time to examine the elements on display I'm certain there's a genuine story being conveyed here too So these kinds of paintings cabinet pictures weren't made for grand staircases or formal salons They were designed for private rooms collector's cabinets spaces where paintings could be examined up close even touched That's why there's so much detail here But if you look at his face now To me it does look like there's some kind of discolored varnish on top But for such a small painting look at those buttons on his collar— There's so much detail And then when you look at his violin and his hand here you can see his thumbnail and the highlights and you can see the strings running down the violin But I'm also examining his cuff here There's some whitening in there So I do believe there might be a slight discoloration of the varnish Once more observe those strings descending from the violin and F holes I mean this is incredibly small And then there are those grapes which I think is such a nice little touch with the highlights on Let's take a look at those Yeah he looks like he's having his pipe filled I'm still not entirely sure what's happening over at that table It's like a small jar or something There's something happening there Again not entirely sure And obviously you have his manuscript along with the larger scenes What a charming little painting this is There's so much detail in there I can 't imagine how he managed to get those strings on that violin Whatever it is though wow—fabulous That’s a spotless surface So if a painting comes in for a surface clean that's an aqueous solution and that's removing all that nicotine and smoke damage damage from coal fires wherever it has been hung throughout its lifetime Now I think this has likely been cleaned before That's why there are those retouching marks And then certain parts of his collar and cuff— They appear to have been slightly over- cleaned at some point There are patches on his face that look uneven That’s already much brighter and much cleaner I might check whether there's a varnish on the face area and jacket that can be removed but I'll proceed cautiously since it's already been cleaned It's already going to look so much more lively I'm just curious shall we say to see if there's anything else to be gained So I'm going to take a quick look at that now As I said just a preliminary exploration Once again this is a suboptimal solution And this might be a slight residue from the smoke But when these colors become saturated they come alive and aren't overly dark And this doesn't appear to be removing much of the varnish Let's just go back underneath and take a look A bit cleaner now Look at his face Perhaps it's slightly off Just clean that small white area there The main focus of this painting is that gentleman Many of the other compositional areas are brown and dark in tone and there's very little varnish present if any—likely just leftover fragments from a previous cleaning I don't see much benefit in pursuing that So I'll just make a light adjustment again in certain areas that could use improvement like the green of the vine or the birdcage and his manuscript but nothing too intense and then once I'm satisfied that I've removed any traces of dir or leftover varnish from that textured area I'll consider applying a barrier varnish there It's much cleaner than it used to be It's much clearer shall we say Yeah he looks great What a beautiful exquisite intricately detailed little image Beautiful Alright let me just do a quick touch-up on those specific areas So I now have that fairly weak solution It's a solvent and I'm just lightly brushing it over the entire painting Imagine you were say sanding a piece of wood—you'd go over the entire surface just trying to remove that one layer And this is exactly what I'm aiming to achieve with this solvent So I want to concentrate or hyper-focus on a single section I'm just trying to remove any remaining varnish marks from that painting And you can see the difference here On the left is the aqueous solution cleaned And then comes the varnish removal It's much lighter so there's not much residue left But there's enough to just gather up almost like dusting a room You're simply collecting those varnish residues that may have settled and weren't fully removed the last time this painting was cleaned These are my surface dirt swabs You can see they're quite dark with significant smoke and nicotine staining And these are my two lighter shades of varnish swabs for a gentle top coat So I think that’s probably enough for this painting I don't want to push it too hard or too far It's already on tin I don't want to delve too deeply into it And I think it's vastly improved as it stands So that'll get a barrier varnish Then I'll come over here And we'll take a look at replacing these missing sections on this frame To accomplish that I'm using my two-part silicone mold-making kit I also have Milliput epoxy which works perfectly for tiny repairs like this I've experimented with countless materials over the years for mold making—from rubber to dental alginate —and this is the best one I've found So once I've determined the source from which I'll take my cast to replace the missing sections I measure out an equal amount of the silicone mold-making compound You can find this pretty much anywhere online It 's not the cheapest but I found it to be the best And you'll have roughly a 20-minute window once the two components are mixed Once combined the mixture turns a lovely light blue shade And then you simply determine where you'll take your impression from In this case I have a missing bottom decorative section on the bottom rail So I'm going to take a mold from the left side I always make a mold slightly larger than what I need because you can always find another use for an extra piece It’s helpful to have the full area This bottom corner is missing so I’m going to take an impression from the bottom left corner which is intact So once more just push it in firmly to ensure I capture a sharp detailed impression of everything And I'm missing another section at the top as well So I'm going to cast from the bottom right corner of that section too Always pay attention to your left and right decorations and ensure you create the right impression for your needs This will activate in approximately 20 minutes And once that's cured I'll use the Milliput to make the mold and replace those missing pieces So for small repairs like this I' ve found Milliput to be an excellent substitute for Compo or English Compo which is great to work with Don't get me wrong I do like it but when it comes to making or warming up a batch I find it much easier just to use Milliput in these situations It's very quick It's highly accessible Don't misunderstand me—if I were tackling a large frame requiring extensive repairs I'd use some Compo to get things started and then replace the entire section with it But it's very easy to work with It dries quickly and I really enjoy using it It's quite easy to shape So in a case like this I took an impression of the entire corner but I need to trim it down to fit only the missing section there I've only just gotten to that bottom corner and a small part of the decoration there I'm going to trim that down and then shape it accordingly And seamlessly integrate that into the existing frame finish as well This should probably be ready in about an hour I make sure to handle it as little as possible I don't want to take too many thumb impressions or compromise any of the detail I've managed to capture so I'll just work around the frame like this making decisions as I go What needs to be replaced what I'm putting instead and what I'm content to keep As I said it has a nice patina It has such a nice finish that I don’t want to overdo it Much like when I’m restoring a painting I simply focus on what’s distracting me What catches my eye and what seems more worn than stylish So long as it's not too overwhelming So again small cracks might be filled in and I'll smooth out certain areas to ensure everything blends together nicely Any prominent cracks will be filled in so they don't distract from that decorative feature in the corner That will be filled in and recolored too And that's the frame finished and filled We'll let it dry then we'll look at recoloring it But before I do that I need to apply my barrier varnish to this painting so there ’s minimal retouching required There are a few small areas I’d like to address but a barrier varnish will simply let me do any touch-ups on top without actually applying it directly to the paint surface so this is a fully reversible hydrocarbon varnis And I'm just going to apply that across the entire span now Right away you can see those colors coming back to life The depth is returning to this painting which had been so flat There was no life in it And this varnish will clearly protect it now It will also begin to deepen those colors revealing what the artist intended With that drying now it's time to turn my attention back to the frame The filled areas have all dried off again and it's ready to be recoloured So I'm using my restoration chips to do this They 're suspended in a resin that dries very quickly Again it's completely reversible but first I want to establish some base tones So I'll start by matching the underlying tones those dark colors and then once those are dry I'm going to apply a gilt cream on top almost like dry brushing to enhance the highlights —I'm not recoloring the entire frame The customer is happy with the overall finish and didn't want to make too many changes to the face of the picture frame he simply wanted the missing elements replaced and the new parts matched to the existing finish as closely as possible So once I've applied the base coat I'll use the gilt cream on top to dry brush and match the existing finish to that picture frame My client also requested that the sides be cleaned up They had been damaged quite severely They had originally been finished with a bowl clay much like the numerous gilded frames and had become dirty discolored and tarnished over time marked by stains and grime and there were also certain areas of loss he was concerned about Now the back of the frame was considerably rougher than the front It was likely just modest pieces of wood to put it mildly The joints weren't particularly well assembled Again it was more like a small cabinet-style picture Perhaps the cost wasn't quite as high on the frame as it would be on a larger piece So what I'm doing is simply applying acrylic bowl clay to the sides and this will dry to a smooth matte finish protect the sides match the patina of the gold on the front and is simply a classic finish I have some filled-in areas on the corners that you can see and then you can observe how the bowl' s clay has become dirty and discolored from splashes and various other marks throughout its history So this was another task the customer asked me to handle He wants this painting to be as polished and presentable as possible And this was just another service we offer for frame care Now that it's dried you can see the beautiful ochre color That's very consistent and just looks so much tidier The next thing we need to do is put this picture back together So the client also wants the back of the frame cleaned up and the best way to achieve that is with some framing tape As you can see it's rather messy It does look a bit unattractive I believe this painting is meant as a gift so he wants it to be as presentable as possible So I'm going to apply the framing tape to the back We'll put the original fixture back on and then we'll start getting the painting fitted back inside Now if you recall from the beginning it was secured with those corks because there was a slight gap in the rebate So what I'm using here is a spacing strip It's a plastic strip with a self-adhesive backing I can simply pull it on either side of the copper plate The copper plates are I don't know less than a couple of mil thick These are about two or three mil And it'll simply prevent the painting from shifting inside the frame So I'm going to tuck them in along the sides and along the top edge And once that's in place I won't be able to move around I'm going to apply an acid-free Aquabac backing board which is resistant to water and mold I'll fit that into place as well and once it's secured I'll apply some additional framing tape just to seal it back in and prevent any insects or those pesky pine needles from appearing behind And it's right at this moment that I start to get a little excited —seeing the final result and all the hard work come together and as mentioned earlier I know it' s not a dramatic revelation—it's not spectacular but this little painting has had a life it's had a journey It’s so small when you see it on the wall—truly But after a full surface clean and selective varnish removal it ’s really starting to come back to life And there's some depth and life restored to that painting The frames had the missing sections replaced and you couldn 't really tell any work had been done which is exactly the effect we wanted We wanted it to retain that antique appearance that sense of age The painting shows that vine creeping through the birdcage I'm still not entirely sure what those gentlemen in the back are up to The sides have also been carefully restored so that when this is hung in its final location it will be in the best possible condition for its age This is how it arrived Slightly worn at the edges utterly flat and lifeless yet after the cleanup those rich tones and colors begin to emerge in his jacket his hair his face We've restored the depth the artist painstakingly created allowing us to see more into the background that domed ceiling That easel those two characters whatever they're up to— we've just brought it back to life There's so much more singing now than there was before That was missed with that dead flat finish to it And I think this painting even though it's small is such a fabulous little picture Okay guys I hope you enjoyed that video Not every job is epic but equally rewarding just to restore that small painting to its original condition—or as close to it as we can get It's a wonderful little picture and that frame is lovely It's such a lovely little frame Again very simple with a beautiful patina But yeah I hope you enjoyed it Thank you to all my Patrons for supporting the channel Thank you as well to all fellow YouTubers for your support and your comments are greatly appreciated Please consider subscribing if you can I'm aiming to grow to 50 000 and we're making good progress— yes we're getting there It's been a strong start to the year Weather in Manchester today let's take a look Grey once more quite surprising And chilly but no wind today So it's just a cold grey still kind of day Alright everyone I'll see you in the next video Have a wonderful weekend and I'll be back soon Take care bye