Making of retouch is limited only to areas where the original form of the painting is damaged. Retouch imitates the original painters technique in the structure of a brush stroke as well as in the applied tone scale. This allows that preserved parts of the painting overcome in the visual experience of the observer.
First stage is making of underpaint with fine brush in gouache paints. The underpainting must be several shades lighter than the original. It must contain all the details that are missing in the original composition. The next stage is applying thin coats of glazes that are made of resin-based medium and pigments. With those glazes it is possible to achieve veracious color intensity.
Retouching should always be limited only to areas of loss or abrasion. The goal of retouching is to make the painting unified without changing or improving the artist’s original intent. It is important that retouching is executing with paints that will not discolor and that will always be easily removable by a conservator in the future.
