Painting Restoration

Our good friend Dr. William N. Milner, Jr. (or just plain Billy to this old man) had a painting that was in pretty bad shape. The painting was special to Bill as he was friends with the artist, it came from a close friend in the Keys plus it was a view of a street familiar to him in the Keys. At his request Becky took on her first 'restoration' project. Since the outer edges of the painting were deemed to be beyond repair the project involved 'relocating' some of the key elements of the painting in addition to considerable cleanup and restoration of the total work. Fortunately Bill understood the magnitude of the project so time was not a factor. The painting traveled from Texas to Oklahoma, Missouri and on to Colorado for the summer and received its final touches back in Texas just before Thanksgiving. Here is its progress and final home back in Dr. Bill's basement game room in Texas.









This how it looked when Bill gave it to Becky. Notice in particular the ragged edges on the bottom and bottom right, the discoloration of the sky, street and buildings and that when room is left for framing, the street sign, artist signature and painting name must be relocated.




I decided to play with some digital 'enhancement' to get an idea of what Becky would want it to look like (under her direction, of course). This is what looked to be the best option for the final 'size'.




This was one option for moving such key elements as the street sign, signature, electric pole, etc.




This was another option plus I made an attempt at some digital cleanup on the bad spots on the street.




Then the artist took over and this is a progress shot. Yes, I know the 'real thing' is much better than my feeble digital attempts but at least it gave us an idea!!! By comparing the photo above, the one opposite and the one below you can see the evolution of this rather special painting.






Here is the finished product as delivered to Bill and is ready for framing.












Bill and Becky discussed frame options and this is the painting back on a wall in Bill's Basement game room. We are all very pleased with the whole project. Well done Becky and Bill!!!