AboutJudy Expertise I can answer questions about art preservation, conservation, and restoration for originals, as well as digital photo restoration. I can refer some excellent art restoration shops in metro Atlanta in Georgia. I do NOT answer any framing questions.
Experience Art restorer for original paper based art such as photograph, etching, engraving, pastel, watercolor, gouache, book, document, letter, drawing, illustration, as well as digital photo restorer.
Question Ms. Judy, I recently obtained several pictures of family members, friends as well as past pets from a family member that passed. He drew constantly as well as painted, His wife entrusted me with the task of preserving these sketches. Most all of the pictures are on paper like typing paper, but some are also on sketch paper. I am trying to find out exactly how I should preserve all of these pictures. I am planning to put all of the pictures into albums that are categorized, would that be a good or bad idea? My first thought was to get the clear sleeves and maybe 3 ring binders. I really am not sure, but this was the thing that he was best at and made a living by doing. I as well as all of our family members love all of the pictures, and we want them to be passed down from generation to generation, therefore we only want to do some sort of preservation that will not damage them. I would greatly appreciate any advice you may be able to give. Thank You Greatly, Kerri
Answer Hi, Kerri,
Thanks for the question.
To be honest with you, I am a little bit confused about what exactly you are trying to preserve. In the subject, you put "pencil sketches and drawings," so I assumed they would be what you were trying to preserve. Then, I read the main message, yet the objects seem to be photographs, due to the word "picture" used. Anyhow, I will answer the question for both photographs and pencil sketches/drawings.
For photographs, you can put them either in bioriented polypropylene (BOPP) sleeves, polyester (Mylar) sleeves, or Glassine photo sleeves which are pH-negative and archival and made of nonplasticized paper. All of these should be fine, for they do not react with photographs. When using sleeves, you will need the backings to support the photographs. The backings have to be acid-free board or thick paper. You can find the backings at the same place where you find the photo sleeves. You can also use the backings or boards for scrapbooking, since the materials for scrapbooking is usually acid-free.
You can also put your photographs in the photo storage boxes. Just make sure that they are lignin-free and acid-free.
For pencil sketches and drawings, you will need to spray fixative onto the drawings. Don't buy anything that's cheap. It is critical to use non-yellowing, good quality fixative. Since they are pencil works, choose matt finish clear fixative. I am not saying that you cannot use glossy finish. Basically, pencil drawings are meant to be non-glossy and non reflective. We don't want to give the pencil drawing a different charateristic. However, if you like them to be shiny, by all mean, use glossy finish.
Buy PH-neutralizing spray, make-acid-free spray, or de-acidify spray. I don't remember the names of the makers. However, you can find it in retail store now. Spray de-acidify spray on the BACK of the drawings, NOT the front. This will make acidic paper acid-free.
After everything is dry (they dry in no time), you can put them in the photo sleeves i described in the paragraph above. After these procedures, your drawings should last generations without a slight change.
