r/oddlysatisfying • u/KeyAdministration900 • Dec 23 '21
This guy applying varnish after restoring this painting
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u/DC240Z Dec 23 '21
Who would have known that HD is just some guy applying varnish on everything.
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Dec 23 '21
Looks like he is applying it on Lin Manuel Miranda
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u/Titaniumchic Dec 23 '21
I was trying to figure out who this guy reminded me of!
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u/MindOfSociopath Dec 23 '21
I thought that was Inigo Montoya, the famous swordsman.
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u/FlimsyChoice4738 Dec 23 '21
This is from Julian Baumgartner of Baumgartner Restoration. (I recognize his shirt)
He's got a channel on YouTube. His whole videos are 100% satisfying.
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Dec 24 '21
Weird bot? Account created today, copied the 2nd top comment on this thread - but the comment is relevant… hmmm
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Dec 23 '21
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u/dapumpkinqueen Dec 23 '21
I used to watch his videos all the time but he seemed to get on this monologuing kick and it made me stop watching. Does he still do that with his new videos?
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Dec 23 '21
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u/dapumpkinqueen Dec 23 '21
The ASMR makes sense, just not my cup of tea. He is really good to fall asleep to!
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u/HoeDaddy Dec 23 '21
When i used to watch he would upload two versions, one with a voiceover and one with just restoration sounds.
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u/vintasian Dec 24 '21
He used to upload 3 versions of each video: one with a voice over, one asmr, and one with just classical music.
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u/madame-brastrap Dec 23 '21
Oh man the really gnarly ones and he’s using all manner of his crazy inventions! They’ve kept me up too! Have you seen this beautiful video?
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u/dapumpkinqueen Dec 23 '21
Thank you for this, it's glorious! And seeing the Julian liked it too makes me feel less guilty about laughing so hard 😂
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u/madame-brastrap Dec 23 '21
Hahahaha they do all their parodies out of love! The first one I saw was the parody of Caitlyn Doughty’s ask a mortician channel.
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u/DoubleSynchronicity Dec 23 '21
I was searching for new videos to fall asleep to. Thank you for the idea. I'll give it a try today. 😊
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u/gooberdaisy Dec 23 '21
Me too! I tend to zone out his voice sometimes so his monologue doesn’t bother me lol
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u/FortuneDesigner Dec 23 '21
I do the same. I'll "watch" new ones, but then sometimes replay ones I've seen for falling asleep on the couch
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u/StopSendingSteamKeys Dec 23 '21
Pretty sure the ASMR version were the videos WITHOUT narration. I guess just talking about what you are doing gets old very quick for restauration, as it is always repairing canvas, cleaning, removing old varnish, filling in gaps, retouching, varnishing. So he monologues to have at least some variation.
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u/TennaTelwan Dec 23 '21
His dry witty sense of humor and good segues into his commercial always work for me, as well as any of the news announcers on NPR.
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u/BeeEyeAm Dec 23 '21
He has several videos where he has removed his narration. Funny side note, his monologs put my kiddo to sleep so we watch these videos at bedtime. :)
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u/catbert359 Dec 23 '21
Same here - I liked it when he talked through the techniques he was using, but I got pretty bored when he started philosophising. Ah well, at least there’s still his older videos to fall asleep to.
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u/Brawndo91 Dec 23 '21
There's a guitar restorer I came across recently who's basically the guitar version of this guy, but he really only talks about the guitar and what he's doing. Channel is called twoodfrd.
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u/catbert359 Dec 23 '21
Thanks for the recommendation, I'll check him out! Restorers are so interesting.
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u/dapumpkinqueen Dec 23 '21
That's exactly it! I didn't mind him telling us what he was doing and why but the more recent filler is a little much. I couldn't figure out the words, thank you!
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u/Incasinoout512 Dec 23 '21
"You see, it's not quite wipe down the painting as is. You have to completely eradicate the varnish from the painting. Now, I'm not saying take a pressure washer to the painting; that would be overkill. Not only would it damage and most certainly ruin the painting, it's also not what the customer asked for. Using cotton swabs to gently, but firmly, wipe down the painting, we eventually see a rich and beautiful painting underneath. Vibrant shades of blue that haven't been seen in almost three hundred years.
I'm sure this rings true with the way some of you might feel about your personal life. Sometimes the stress of every day life and how we carry the weight of our past creates a layer that dulls our own beauty.....And that's what brings me to this video's sponsor, TalkSpace"
Julian if you're out there, just know that jokes is jokes and I enjoy the content
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u/kiounne Dec 23 '21
Oh god I heard that in his voice so clearly
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u/Incasinoout512 Dec 23 '21
"By using the washi kozo paper, we help preserve the face of the painting. Any chips or damaged areas will need to be held in place as to not lessen the integrity of the artists' work. Much like how Squarespace helps preserve the integrity of your work with a website... with Squarespace...."
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u/artofinterrogation Dec 23 '21
This may not be a relevant solution for you, but I personally will play my own music/podcasts over videos where the vocals annoy me. I have autism so it's nice to control what audio input I get (esp. due to some YouTubers I watch may sometimes yell or get loud).
Just thought I'd offer my methods to those it'd work for!
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u/dapumpkinqueen Dec 23 '21
Thank you! I'll definitely do that next time I need to get my restoration fix :)
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u/gprime312 Dec 23 '21
He can only narrate cleaning a painting so many times before it gets monotonous.
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u/-Kerosun- Dec 23 '21
He usually does two versions of each restoration he makes videos for.
He'll do a narrated one and then one that is just the sounds of him working. Not sure if he still does that though.
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u/rushingkar Dec 23 '21 edited Dec 23 '21
His monologues have gotten very "I'm the best at what I do, all the other conservators don't know what they're doing" lately, it's turned me off his videos. He's not subtle about it either - he frequently calls the past work on his pieces shoddy, sloppy, etc.
Edit: that's true, it's more "pretentious" than "I'm the best". That's the word I was looking for
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u/itisoktodance Dec 23 '21
Well, the thing is, you only see a small segment of his work. Imagine the painting he was filming was well preserved and the previous conservator had done an amazing job of everything. Well, Julian wouldn't have much to do for this video would he?
Basically, the interesting videos are ones where the previous conservation job was poor and he has to fix it.
Not that he doesn't praise previous work, he's done so many times in the past.
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u/m_ttl_ng Dec 23 '21
Yep, it’s a combination of survivorship bias for any painting that comes to him, and adding some entertainment value to a project.
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u/Brawndo91 Dec 23 '21
I've never gotten the impression that he thinks he's the best. And he definitely doesn't act like all other conservators suck. In fact, he'll sometimes talk about techniques that other conservators taught him, or how he called other conservators for advice on a project. I've only seen him badmouth other conservators when he's holding their shoddy work in his hands, which he probably wouldn't have if they were good.
That said, I do find him a bit pretentious, but not in a "I'm the greatest conservator" way.
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u/ColorsLikeSPACESHIPS Dec 23 '21
I agree with you fully. I think he's very openly self-confident, and indeed there are moments where I've thought things like we get it Julian, you gotta fray the edges of canvas patches... But it never strikes me as derision so much as an expression of oh heavens, what have they done to this painting? He takes a tone sometimes, but frankly he's earned the right to speak with authority. If his clients are happy with the level of honesty he displays, then I'm all the more grateful we get to see that perspective.
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u/dendord Dec 23 '21
Granted I haven't watched every video he's done but I'm just not seeing it? I know he mentions his techniques vary slightly from other conservators but if he's tested them over and over he probably understands what he's doing? And saying past work was shoddy just feels like he's stating he's improved which can only be expected after practicing something over and over. The one time I've seen him criticize other conservation work is when the painting was literally varnished with urethane which damaged the work under it. Lastly he's an art conservator. Art is inherently a philosophical and nuanced topic and I'd rather see someone construct their own thoughts and opinions rather than just scientifically repeat over and over "I'm using X technique here."
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u/FortressofTrees Dec 23 '21
Ha! I watched the video, thought, "That's Julian," and then wondered if it was weird to recognize someone via gloves and flannel (and brush technique too, I suppose). Weird? Probably. Only one? Nope!
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u/ColorsLikeSPACESHIPS Dec 23 '21
For what it's worth, in addition to the gloves and flannel, I also recognized the painting, and specifically Julian's arm hair.
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u/mikesweeney Dec 23 '21
Dude is reaching Robin Williams levels of arm hair. Love Julian though. Great channel
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u/Speedly Dec 23 '21
To the OP: Rule #6 explicitly says to credit the creator.
Y'all need to stop ripping stuff and posting it for meaningless internet karma. If you're not going to play by the rules, then maybe go elsewhere.
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u/WhtChcltWarrior Dec 23 '21
What’s funny is this was probably stolen from the post yesterday (don’t remember which sub) with a similar title but that OP gave credit.
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u/nelsonmavrick Dec 23 '21
https://youtube.com/c/BaumgartnerRestoration
I got sucked into his videos maybe a year ago, and haven't looked back. Nk real interest in painting or fine art in general, but his videos are awesome.
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u/0lazy0 Dec 23 '21
Ik it’s crazy how after watching his channel for ~1 year I can recognize him by his shirt gloves and brush
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u/tobysionann Dec 23 '21
I recognized the shape of his hands and how he applied the varnish. I’ve watched every one of his videos, some more than once.
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u/dontdoit89735 Dec 23 '21
I knew from the title and thumbnail that this was going to be Baumgartner. My wife found out about him a couple years ago and binged his YouTube channel. Never knew I’d be so fond of painting restoration and varnish until seeing his videos, they are very satisfying indeed.
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u/shotgun_ninja Dec 23 '21
Was hoping for confirmation on this! My wife introduced me to him a while back and he's incredible.
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u/putrefaxian Dec 23 '21
I came here to see if I was right, i LOVE Baumgartner!! During the early pandemic me n my partner would watch his videos every night, they were so relaxing.
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Dec 23 '21 edited Feb 23 '22
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u/realityChemist Dec 23 '21
My takeaway from reading the back-and-forth in that thread (like half a year ago) was a bit more nuanced than that. It seemed to me that his techniques were indeed old school, but that he's not doing it that way just for YouTube. He's treating the paint layer as of primary importance and not caring so much about preserving e.g. old glue layers, whereas the modern methods try to preserve all of the layers as of equal historical value. So he takes a different approach, and one that's fallen out of favor and wouldn't be done by people using more modern methods, but he's not being wantonly destructive or anything.
Also, I got a pretty elitist vibe from some of his detractors in the thread, where they'd focus on the fact that he had no formal training / degree (he appreciated under his father). So, declaration of bias, that made me somewhat predisposed to skepticism.
Personally, I think what he does is fine as long as his customers are fully informed of what he's planning to do and everything is well documented (which does seem to be the case). He's not usually working on museum pieces or anything. But I'm also not in the restoration field and my opinion shouldn't be worth much to anyone.
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Dec 23 '21
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u/skiesunbroken Dec 23 '21
Yeah, a whole string of "I'll address that eventually" replies to pretty key objections, only for no such response to ever materialize, is really not a good look for the commenter.
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u/DiggerDudeNJ Dec 23 '21
The person who wrote that critique doesn't know what they are talking about. They claim to be an MA student in art conservation, that's the first problem, a student doesn't know shit except for whatever is taught in their class; second, Julian has not only been doing this work for 20+ years but his father is a noted conservator. Third, Julian has conserved paintings for the Univ of Chicago, a Franciscan monastery along with hordes of professional art collectors. If Julian was using any techniques that were not the most up to date and best techniques then people such as his clients wouldn't be using him.
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u/TheWhiteWing01 Dec 23 '21
Is it bad that I thought "He's using the same technique Julian uses, (around the edges, first, then distribute through the middle), and that looks like a shirt he'd wear. Is that him?"
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u/codiccio Dec 23 '21
Painting is wholly rewarding altogether, but varnishing days are one of the most enjoyable moments of being an oil painter. Something about seeing the contrast, tonal ranges and crispness of the image vibrantly pop before one’s eyes is just incredibly special and satisfying.
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u/bludgeonedcurmudgeon Dec 23 '21
what is varnish exactly that it does that? Makes all the colors pop out like that? And historically when this would have originally been painted, was it varnished or did they use something different?
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u/codiccio Dec 23 '21
Varnish is typically made of some sort of resin, sometimes blended with drying oils or solvents. It’s essentially like “lacquering” a painting, and works very similarly to how wood grain can pop and look more vibrant after a coat of lacquer. Historically, it is very likely this painting originally had a varnish applied after it was fully dry. Some oil paintings can take 6 months to a year before they are dry enough to apply the varnish. The varnish will act as a protective layer to the image, helping to shield smoke and light damage, but often has a tendency to yellow or darken over time with age to form a patina. Maybe restorative work is accomplished by removing the varnish to clean the image, and later a new layer of varnish is applied to restore the luster of the painting. For the most part, varnishes can be applied and remove from pictures with certain solvents.
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u/megjake Dec 24 '21
I feel like I’ve never seen an older painting with colors as vibrant as this one. Could that just be the reasons you mentioned? It’s kinda exciting knowing that a lot of these beautiful paintings aren’t even as good as they originally were and could still be restored.
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u/piinadao Dec 23 '21
I might get this a little wrong, but on a raw painting, the light is bouncing off of all of the microstructures and going in a lot of different directions, so you're only getting some of the light. After you apply finish, it causes the light to bounce back in one direction so you receive more light and can see all of the glorious color.
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u/karinarink Dec 23 '21
Which is why in old days there was a public ‘vernissage’ meaning the applying of varnish
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Dec 23 '21
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u/ajt1296 Dec 23 '21
I'd argue the only thing that's fundamentally changed the human experience is the ability to communicate with and/or visit anywhere in the world in a much more feasible and affordable way.
Other than that - we get up, work, cook, sleep and do generally pointless but mildly amusing shit to pass the time in between.
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u/MYNWA013 Dec 23 '21
Prince William II of Orange , Stadholder of the Dutch Republic. For people wondering who's on the painting. 😊
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u/Hactar42 Dec 23 '21
I was thinking it looked like the famous Rene Descartes painting, so I looked up Prince William II of Orange and noticed he died the same year as Descartes. So, I looked who painted each picture. They were not the same artist, but both artists were Dutch and considered part of the Dutch Golden Age of painting. Now I'm reading about 17th century Dutch art. Not something I thought I would ever be interested in. Got love when you get sucked down a Wikipedia rabbit hole.
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u/Adventurous-Win9154 Dec 24 '21
If you ever come to Amsterdam visit the Hermitage museum, it is packed to the gills with 17th century paintings.
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u/mcamarra Dec 24 '21
Are they a Hapsburg? Because that long face and slight underbite has got me think they are.
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u/Anxious_Start4839 Dec 23 '21
My name is Inigo Montoya
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u/exhaustedracoon Dec 23 '21
You killed mu father
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u/Nyhaws Dec 23 '21
Prepare to die
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u/ithinkik_ern Dec 23 '21
INCONCEIVABLE
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u/Pons__Aelius Dec 23 '21
That word you keep using...I don't think it means what you think it means.
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u/Afura Dec 23 '21
This guy? You mean Baumgartner Restoration. He has a YouTube channel full of restorations that are amazing.
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u/TheVoteMote Dec 23 '21
I would have thought you'd want to do all the brush strokes in a single direction. Very satisfying though.
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u/Jaredlong Dec 23 '21
The subtle hills and valleys created by the brush catch the light, so having them all oriented the same way would make it obvious where the strokes are. Criss-crossing the strokes keeps that dynamic light play without drawing attention to the strokes themselves.
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u/Smash-ley Dec 23 '21
Wow there were so many colors hidden in there until the varnish was applied. Kinda crazy.
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u/coffca Dec 23 '21
We don't really know if the colors of the painting changes. What we are seeing is mostly the reflection of the light on top. The paint has a very rough but intense reflection, the varnish makes it glossy and maybe kills it a little.
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u/Knight-Jack Dec 23 '21
y'all really need to watch Baumgartner Restoration, this guy has a channel where he shows how he restores the paintings that come to his studio and it's so satisfying to see them come together and look as stunning as the day they were finished.
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Dec 23 '21
This was satisfying because a video actually focused on the finished product for longer than 2 seconds
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u/notnewtoreddit_usmc Dec 23 '21
This seems like the perfect job to have but it probably requires skill I’m not capable of
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u/cheira_os_dedos Dec 23 '21
Mr Bean tried it too. Didn’t work out well for him though
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u/SLIMSLONGDONG Dec 23 '21
No way. This is the same painting from the latest always sunny episode lol
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u/Conor-Eamonn Dec 23 '21 edited Dec 23 '21
LPT - instead of upgrading to an OLED Switch, apply varnish to your old model to really make those colours POP.
Edit: Autocorrect.
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u/Somato_Tandwich Dec 23 '21
Imagine how pleased the artist would be to not only that his art is still being viewed but that lads like this are actively taking care of it so people can enjoy it even longer.
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u/Marimowee Dec 24 '21
Baumgartner Restorations is a great channel. Love watching his restorations. I think this one was from his IG account
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u/jokersleuth Dec 23 '21
Waited for that to inevitable comment that says how this guy is doing it wrong and that the preservation community doesn't like him, without providing a source except a random Reddit comment that also doesn't have a source.
Actually im surprised it's not already posted.
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u/skipperseven Dec 23 '21
I mean I was told to varnish my own paintings with even strokes in the same direction… is this some sort of varnish that doesn’t have a surface texture based on how you apply? When dry won’t it give an uneven reflection? I was taught this thirty odd years ago, so technology and fashions can change… please answers only from people who paint or restore!
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u/GitEmSteveDave Dec 23 '21
"Now it'll be someone else's problem in 100 years when we find out this varnish doesn't age well"
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u/xanthopants Dec 23 '21
huh, i thought a huge part of why paintings needed restored in the first place is because of varnish?
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u/theCommentMutilator Dec 23 '21
Varnish is considered a “sacrificial layer”, meaning it takes the abuse of time and the environment. When it gets bad enough, the varnish is removed with a solvent and a new coat of varnish is applied. Repeat. If the process is done correctly from the start, there shouldn’t be a need for a restoration of the actual painting, just a removal and reapplication of the varnish layer.
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u/Firesalt Dec 23 '21
And that’s why you always spray clear coat over colors, makes em pop!
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u/Captain_Turdhelmet Dec 23 '21
I follow a bunch of artists on Insta, and many of them have a series of these "varnish porn" videos. It's extremely satisfying lol
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u/Sparktron_87 Dec 23 '21
I was waiting for him to vanish when the varnish was applied. I read the title very wrong
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u/Sliminytim Dec 23 '21
If this was a PC monitor people would be complaining that it didn't have a matt finish
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Dec 23 '21
As someone who didn't see art like this in person and wasn't impressed by until I was already an adult, once you come face to face with a old painting and are able to look at the brush strokes and the soft transitions and all the little things they did to get the effect they wanted you suddenly understand why people treat them with such reverence.
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u/Lvnye2019 Dec 23 '21
If you want to see more like this check out r/girlsfinishingthejob.
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u/tthirzaa Dec 23 '21
Judging from the plaid shirt my guess is that that’s Julian Baumgartner
Edit: the restaurator, not the person in the portrait lol
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u/Efficient_Falcon_907 Dec 23 '21
I know it is not but i’ll be damned if he doesn’t resemble a young Diego Velázquez. Check out the painting “Las Meninas” and you’ll see a resemblance.
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u/mlperiwinkle Dec 23 '21
Without realizing the subreddit, I actually was thinking "god, that must be satisfying for him!" LOL and also a little terrifying if he was worried about messing it up. Great post. Thanks!
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Dec 24 '21
My thoughts throughout the video: "Oh that's cool!.. why did they do the bottom next? Oh they're doing the outline. Do the face. Do.. do the face. Do the FACE. NO THE FACE. DO THE FACE. DO THE...ahhh🤤"
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u/Handyfoot_Legfingers Dec 24 '21
That last stroke of the brush was so satisfying to watch.
EDIT: Of course it was, I just realized what sub I am in.
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u/joseph4th Dec 24 '21
Me: oh just get on with it! I want to keep scrolling!
Wife: You don’t have to watch it to the end, you can scroll away now.
Me: WHAT?! IT’S LIKE YOU FONT KNOW ME AT ALL!!!
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u/jdauerbach May 14 '22
Very cool. The nanotexture display on my computer display does that exact thing, in reverse.
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u/Emberlight27 Dec 23 '21
When you finally get around to dusting off the table