The Perils of Painting on Panel 

Thanks. I didn’t think he made the clampinator that long ago.

1 year - a year ago more than 1 year - many years ago 😂😂

@@thejericho In some primitive cultures people count like this: "one, two, many".

2020 WAS years ago, technically speaking. 2 years ago to be exact :D

it was a bit weird but i think he meant he had an older clampinator. this aluminum one is version 2.

Are you an Artist?

same, im not an artist but i love his work

I'll second that.

U don't have to be an artist to watch & enjoy.... to find them immensely calming & satisfying. 😊😌

I made a play list that I sometimes use to help me relax, calm my nerves, when I'm either in a LOT of pain again & need something to focus on AND help to relax & calm my nerves & ease off to sleep!

I wish I could time travel and show these artists the care and attention Julien would give to their paintings and visions one day!

In 150 years conservators will know thing Julian doesn’t know and will be fixing things he did that we think are OK now. That’s probably part of why he uses reversible methods.

Keep us updated OP!

Wow that's so nice!!!! Congratulations on the internship and success in your career! Keep us updated in the comments, please!!!

@@larissanunes6913 thank you!! I will update :))

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🎉🎉🎉

that’s incredible!! congratulations and i’m rooting for you 🤗🤗

Seeing the green just EXPLODE to brilliant, verdant life at 18:15 was amazing. It was clear from looking at the upper half of the painting that the varnish was very discolored, but I almost always underestimate just how badly the old varnish dulls and flattens the original work. It's incredible what a difference it makes just to get that stuff off!

Not a fantastic painting despite Julian's best effort......but his clamponator is ingenious. A work of machine art and engineering.

ALL his work benefits from his expertise. Watching his skill in conservation and restoration is fascinating. That’s why he has hundreds of thousands of subscribers.

@@marquamfurniture The painting IS “fantastic” to the owner or they wouldn’t be paying the restoration fee of a skilled craftsman or a million + subscribers watching.

@@mircat28 Thank you for clueing me in.

Julian has carried me through some rough waters, too. He must be exhausted!

antidepressant withdrawals are the fecking worst! glad you're doing better

Like you this channel has done more for my mental health in the last few years than almost anything else. Seeing someone take so much care over restoring something is so soothing for me. No rush to 'get it done' everything happens when it should and no sooner. I'm sure for Julian there are days when it feels like a "job" but looking in from the outside it is almost magical how he can take an artists work and restore it to how they gave it to the world.

Why would you stop using the meds? Just curious! Im eating it myself but dont see a reason to stop.

@@anderswestberg4151 I certainly didn’t WANT to, I just had unfortunate complications with the office I was working through. It’s definitely not healthy at all to cold turkey medicine like that!

🤣

Are you an Artist?

How old is this Painting?

@@irenedavo3768 we've been watching him restore so many things now and we kinda already know what tools he is going to use when paintings have this kind of problem. I think that's why Avery reacted like that

Sooooo true

I was going to leave a very similar comment but found yours. Agreed, the occasional error just humanizes Julian. :)

I didn't even notice, nice find! But at the same time, of course he's gonna have employees, he's handling at the same time hundreds of painting in his studio, he certainly can't do it alone.

@@Txur_Itan obviously, I just pointed out how they were never shown on video

apprentice maybe?

I thought he said in one Q&A that he works alone and I've read it in coments some times, maybe an apprentice?

Nice catch. So cool seeing someone else working in there.

So glad I am not the only one whose brain went in that direction.

Waiting for clampinator 3000 And oh boy, be careful, it will clamp you, no moves, no distortion😎

🤣 i love it!

No doubt! And if you see it in person, it is absolutely glorious… not that Michelangelo could have been after that effect or anything…

I would guess (from watching some of his other videos working with paintings on wood) there could be some process and/or application of a medium to help with cupping. I'd venture even someone that canvas on the back would help with allowing the wood to flex with humidity, but also help keep it flat. I'd stone and drunk though, and don't do anything but watch RU-vid, so take it with a grain of salt.

@@gregpenismith1248 haha thank you!

If the water can be replaced after the wood has bowed, then it can be replaced before it's bowed too. I imagine there must be pre-treated wood that you can buy to paint on.

@Adam Zey Í was going to suggest looking into construction applications. There are wood preservants that harden and petrify wood. With some brands, paint can adhere to the new wood surface. Perhaps one can look into performing this as a pre-treatment.

George William Whitaker

@Figment That's idiotic nonsense. I have never seen anything so stupid in my life. Put the artist name in the description. Anyone that restricts information behind a paywall is an absolute scumbag. This channel is supposed to be EDUCATIONAL, TEACHING, KNOWLEDGE. And this information is public, it can be found just by Google to begin with. So again - nonsense stupidity.

@Billy White Jr. Oh dang, I was not expecting it to be a painter from Rhode Island! It's always a pleasant surprise when my little state gets brought up :)

Well, pizza of course. And there's nothing wrong with pineapple on pizza.

@@SandraNelson063 you speak the truth!

Excellent

It's not pizza if it has pineapple. It's just a terrible attempt at a sweet and savior dessert.

And Doritos. Don’t forget the Doritos! :)

Yea I backed it up thinking I have a seizure

There's a weird bleep as well around the 23min mark. Great video though

@@sarahfrench9336 same. Except I thought my laptop was having a seizure.

@@JohannDakitsch Same, it's an alarm/notification of some sort - Julian pauses, does a mental reverse, and then picks back up again, repeating some of what he'd just said

Does that sort of thing, which we all saw/ heard, really bother ya'll , or do you think you are the only ones who noticed it and feel the need to point it out to us less observant people?

I did a double-take when I saw the person in the background. And then I smiled so hard my face hurt, because I've often wondered if Julian has someone that he's passing his knowledge to.

I would guess a painting so young wouldn't need help yet? Though things like fire and flooding, at a thing, and don't care about age of product they destroy.

@@gregpenismith1248 yes I was thinking damage more than age.

@@ericavetsch463 Age ...IS ... damage. I know this on a very personal level!

Awesome questions!

Good question.

Agreed! I find myself wanting one.

I'm wanting to do this to my deck.

the mona lisa is a complicated case, because the technique used to paint her was so different than most paintings. it is unfortunately impossible to remove the many layers of varnish on her without damaging the painting itself. i can't remember if it was paint between many layers of varnish or colored varnish itself, but the result is the same - the painting you see today is inextricable from the varnish, it was created *with* the varnish. 😔 it really is very sad that da vinci didn't know the varnish would discolor so badly or he might have used a different technique...

Remember we only see the paintings that he DOES clean. We don't see the paintings where he and the owner end up deciding it would NOT be possible to safely do this restoration. The Mona Lisa would be one of those paintings. It's simply not possible based on the way she was painted to remove the varnish without damaging the paint layer. He is also a private business. Museums are beholden to any number of boards and committees that often prefer to be overly conservative in their decisions and the conservators who work for them must follow that ruling. On the other hand, the only person he has to work with is the owner of the paintings.

I once went to an art museum (against my will, not enough dinosaurs for my museum tastes) with a friend of mine who studied art and when I pointed out that 90% of the paintings there could use a good cleaning bc they're all yellowed and gross looking she just about fainted. Like. Why would you let it stay yellowed and gross when cleaning is possible. In cases like the mona lisa where the technique makes it all kinds of difficult to clean I'd understand, but I highly doubt most of the paintings in that museum would be impossible to clean lmao

Controversial how? And which statements?

@@gregpenismith1248 the arguments I have seen have not been so much about patina as artistic intent. Many art historians have argued that those muddy browns that we see now is what the artist intended. I imagine that is why Julian puts so much emphasis on the ageing of the varnish. For example the controversy about the cleaning of the Sistine Chapel was epic. Even after the conservators had demonstrated that the chapel ceiling was coated in centuries of candle soot and layers of post Michelangelo varnish, some are art critics could not accept the restored bright “garish “ colours of the chapel were the original colours. They imagined some sort of brown varnish had been applied to the frescoes by Michelangelo to make the chapel match their taste.

And if flattening wasn't necessary, why not prepare that raw side with the "special sauce" so no future bowing would happen?

I assume because repairs should be conservative. Thus, "conservation". If it's settled like that it's best to touch as little as possible

Excellent answer

I guess if the board has not bowed over time yet, there is no reason to expect for it to bow in the future if you remember the graphic with the wood grain, maybe the part of the panel where the other half is, was with a grain structure that distorts only to a negliable degree

@@insederec I agree with you but maybe also it has to do with the client’s wishes. I noticed on the front of the painting you could tell where the painting was in a frame. I would assume he would have “touched” that up if he had full permission on this painting.

Use tacks!

I'd be interested in a vid like that too, and I have no artistic ability whatsoever. I do appreciate art though.

Paint with 10 different kinds of paints mixed together on an old canvas, varnish with epoxy and staple the whole thing for good measure onto a piece of wood from home depot. Oh and don't forget to blow a lot of smoke and dust into it

That sounds like a great topic for a Skillshare course

I second this! As an artist myself I mostly hand-embroider, draw on paper with markers and fineliners, and use watercolours on watercolour-specific paper. But if I were ever to get into canvas or panel paintings, I'd love to know some good preparation techniques and long-lasting stable practices that will help my work stand through time and be easily repaired if needs be down the line.

That stuff is on his Patreon link.

On instagram last year, Julian advertised for -- and then hired -- an assistant, so that's probably them working on a different piece in the background.

@@IanWatson thank you for the info!!!

@@IanWatson Thank You Ian....Geee a whole year ago.....( get with the program Tuffy ).....TM

Great eye!!!

Elementary, my Dear Watson! LOL, it HAD to be said! 🕵️‍♀️

Noticed that too. And decided maybe both?

In this case it would be both you don't want it to lose its age by looking brand new he's just healing it

Obviously I'm just speculating, but would something as simple as an alcohol work for speeding up the evaporation? I'm just as interested in the special sauce as you are, after looking closely at the video, the solution he is using can be seen labeled at 14:50 as "DPG" which is presumably dipropylene glycol. After some googling, it seems to be a water soluble solvent that has a very low evaporation rate. His seems to be more yellow than what I can find online, but it's the only thing that makes sense to me as more common things that don't evaporate like oils are not water soluble, and anything else I found was too exotic or expensive for him to have a huge container full.

Julian has mentioned previously that part of owning a conservation business is using proprietary solvents and materials for specialty processes. We probably won't get to know 🤷‍♀️

I'll guess Polyethylene glycol.

Propylene glycol is used to conserve historical wood from boats etc so it might be that.

He made a video when he built the clampinator.

IIRC Julian also made the plans for it available to others for free.

This isn't the first time he has withheld a solution's composition from us. I imagine it's both because the mixture is proprietary, but also to prevent amateur conservators from trying to make the solution themselves and do damage to a painting.

@@open_flame3730 Very true. I guess the first reason is the main one, but if it prevents wanna-be chemists from doing damage to art then that's good, too. It's also possible, though less likely, that the ingredients of that component are problematic in some way. If, for example, Julian needs a license to buy some chemical X that is also used in the production of, say, Chrystal Meth, then not revealing it will protect us from trying to purchase that chemical.

Possibly the same stuff as the Vasa and Mary Rose were sprayed with, PEG, PolyEthylene Glycol. I think it basically replaces the water in the wood cells with wax. Although in the ships case, they were sprayed for decades.

@@lancewhite1477 oooh i was going to say glycerin! I guess he would want to avoud people accidentally poisoning themselves or a kid or an animal so yeh probably why he withheld.

Probably a Glycol of somesort...Useful on Axes and Hammers too. Dip the head in antifreeze for a day or two and it won't ever come loose again

In a previous video Julian mentioned that his insurance company wouldn’t let him get specific about the types of solvents he used.

If it is PEG than it is either really low weight one or highly diluted one because that substance was completely watery.

@@lihigers1290 it does come in a massive range of molecule sizes, and it's a thin piece of wood compared to most archaeological equivalents

A sign of parallel universes colliding

Which video? Last video was a master. I've never seen him do that if it's original to the painting. Maybe my mind is going...

@@calypzo69 ya the icon. He covered the halo writing

@@CritterHunter Gonna watch again. 😯 Update: My blood went cold when I saw it. This man is meticulous. He did address it in his comment section, in full. I use these videos for pain and saw some shapes but didn't put a mind to it until later. Thought Justin believed it was someone else's attempt to alter or forge. I did think about who would have painted it because usually there are words around the halos to show that they are certain saints in particular. Since I saw nothing on the woman, didn't expect anything on the child, again suspicious. That and my phone is small and oldish. Like he says, he's human after all. Thank God for his reversible tecniques. From now on, I hope I don't miss anything. Thanks for commenting. I would've never known.

@@calypzo69 read the comments. Everyone is wondering