Thursday, April 26, 2018

An old family tree. (Mid 20th C Dutch Stamboom) Partial restoration and additional portraits.

This image has come to me badly faded with smudges, abrasions and water damage.
This is an original water colour with hand drawn miniature cameo portraits in 4B pencil. This is exceptionally detailed, quality work by an unknown Dutch artist made around the late 1940's or early 1950's.
At some point in it's life this image has been mounted on oil tempered hardboard with wall paper paste. As a result the colour of the board has bled through the paper. Northland's high humidity has ensured that the acidification of the paper with its associated foxing and oxidation has discoloured the paper to a serious degree. This process is reversible with appropriate conservation techniques and resources however there is not the budget to do this.
I have been asked to do a limited visual restoration and to create four new additional portraits to compliment the family tree, three of which I have completed.

I have obscured the water damage on the right side of the tree and made some efforts at cleaning the overall image surface.
I have also recoloured the lower background giving a little more definition to the landscape with windmill and the building to the right of the tree.

I added 4 new portraits, drawn by me in pencil, the 2 girls on the top left and the 2 young boys at top right. The client asked me to add extra limbs to the tree at the top to help with the linking of the additional portraits to the composition.

Four new boat portraits.

Water colour on paper. A4 size Water colour on paper. A4 size Water colour on paper. A4 size Water colour on paper. ...