Rebuilding Begins But Somethings Missing -Victorian Portait Restoration - Part 4
Mar 20, 2026 BLOOMFIELD ART | FINE ART RESTORATION | FRAMING
Welcome to Part 4 of this Victorian portrait restoration.
With the structural work now complete and the surface cleaned, this stage focuses on preparing the painting for reconstruction. A barrier varnish is applied, the areas of loss are carefully filled, and the surface is levelled and refined in readiness for retouching.
From here, I begin the process of reintegrating the image — matching tones and working back into the face and surrounding areas using stable pigments rather than the bitumen that has caused so many issues in the darker passages.
But one major question still remains… what to do about the missing hair.
Before committing anything to the painting itself, I take a step back and look at period references — particularly portraits of Prince Albert — and use a series of digital mock-ups to explore how the hair may have originally been styled.
If you would like to see more exclusive content, behind the scenes footage and live Q&As then please visit my Patreon page and consider supporting the channel: / bloomfieldartrestoration
Equipment:
Iphone 14pro
Yeti Blue Mic
Edited with Adobe Premiere
Would you like to advertise with us, direct business inquiries to: [email protected]
ABOUT Bloomfield Art Restoration is an unlimited series exploring the art restoration of oil paintings, period history, and artists lives.
ABOUT Bloomfield Art & James Bloomfield Bloomfield Art specialise in all aspects of art restoration, oil easel painting restoration and fine art conservation. We offer fine art restoration and picture cleaning services across the North West of England, We also offer a National Painting Restoration service. Bloomfield Art is an associate member of the British Association of Paintings Conservators - Restorer's (BAPCR) . We have a selection of quality antique oils for sale please vivit our website to see our current stock, we offer free international shipping:
https://www.bloomfieldart.co.uk/categ...
We have completed art restoration work on behalf of Christies London, National Gallery Ireland, the NHS, local authorities, schools, churches and historic houses. We have also worked on paintings by Sir Terry Frost, Ambrose McAvoy, Mary Fedden, Kyffin Williams, Robert Lenkowiez, Helen Bradley, L.S Lowry, R.R. Reinagle, J.Hopner, W.Sant and many more. James Bloomfield is an accredited Art Restorer and Artist and has worked on 1000's of oil paintings. He was selected for the prestigious John Moores painting prize in 2012 and has his artworks in museum collections in the UK. He lives and works in Manchester England.
Rebuilding the Victorian portrait requires addressing significant structural losses through filling and meticulous retouching. Digital tools are used to explore historical accuracy for missing elements.
Summary