Inpainting

Fine Art Inpainting

Below are several ‘before & after’ examples of the 19th century heirloom portraits and 20th century art I restored while working

as the Inpainter at ReNewell Fine Art Conservation & Morris Gallery in Columbia, South Carolina. The works are oil on canvas,

measuring approximately 24" x 30" - 32" x 40", with fairly substantial damage. I worked on many paintings such as these,

as well as much older 17th & 18th century artworks and the occasional retablo. Clients were typically private patrons and a

handful of museums throughout the Southeastern USA.

What is Inpainting?

The job of a traditional fine art Inpainter is to quite literally *paint into* damaged works of art after they have been chemically

treated and/or any damaged surface areas (scratches, tears, missing or flaking paint) have been repaired by the Art Conservator,

thereby replacing any missing areas of paint. Ideally, this process is intended to be apparent to an observer upon a thorough,

close-up inspection, but the inpainted areas blend perfectly in terms of tone and color so they are not visible from a distance.

About the Inpainting Process:

Typically, the inpainting process took me between one day and two weeks per painting, depending on the amount

of damage. It was tedious, exacting work requiring precise painting and complex color mixtures and glazes; basically a

matter of color matching. I always thought of inpainting as a sort of glorified paint-by-numbers. Except there were no

numbers, the palette of colors was essentially infinite and, in many instances, key areas of the painting would be missing,

such that certain portions of the subject matter would be completely obliterated. At these times I had to rely on adjacent

areas of the image anatomy for visual cues to help me reconstruct the missing areas. It was challenging, precision work

that required a steady hand, an eye for detail, a good sense of color, and an insane amount of patience.