General Questions Regarding Restoration

[FFB]

bad job, if you get it done by a high end restorationist, it runs 50 bucks an hour, with nearly every book being done under 10 hours. good restorers use acrylics, archival glue, and very careful hands, it should be undetectable to the untrained eye. only place i can reccomend is Susan Cicconi, i have seen a few of her items, and it is amazing what she can do.

 

Povertyrow said that when he worked with Susan, she used watercolor, not acrylic. Have you seen her use acrylic? I found this hard to believe since I've always read and heard that pros use acrylic and watercolor, but then I checked the essay she wrote (maybe in the grading guide?) about restoration and she mentioned using watercolor, and didn't mention using acrylic.

 

I have had a restored AF#15 that was done in acrylic and while some parts looked good, some other light gray parts looked really bad.

 

I have wondered about whether she uses acrylic since Pov said she didn't. Maybe I should just ask her myself?

 

So I asked Susan about the acrylics issue and here's what she said:

 

I would love to know who said that I do not use acrylics. Do you remember

who it was? Thanks for the kind comments re: the comic zone. I enjoyed it!

 

I don't know if you have read my reviews on "just pressing" these

days...Mark Zaid did an interview with me and posted some of my thoughts.

I will be releasing my newly revamped website in about a week.

Do check it out http://wwwtherestorationlab.com....you can read all about

my history in the comic book world and paper conservation in general.

My Policy on Pressing is highly recommended reading as well as a paper I

wrote 16 years ago on Ethics and Standards in the Conservation of Ephemera

presented at Harvard University.

Thanks again and stay in touch.

 

Susan Cicconi

 

By the way, yes I do use acrylics and maybe the work is so nice they can't

tell that!!!

[bullseye]

well there ya go, right from the erm high grade horses mouth

[PovertyRow]

I would love to know who said that I do not use acrylics. Do you remember

 

This is a general reposnse, not directed just at Scott. His post contained the quote I needed.

 

I would love to know where I ever said she does not use acrylics. I have said she she uses watercolorand showed me some of that technique. I may have said I did not see her use acrylic in the short time I was there. But to say I said she never uses acrylic? That is a very different thing and I'd like to know where that comes from.

 

I have explained things now a couple of times, but things get misinterpreted, misremembered, misinderstood or misquoted.

 

So no more from me on this. And I would appreciate it if the whole subject no longer be brought up.

[FFB]

I would love to know who said that I do not use acrylics. Do you remember

 

This is a general reposnse, not directed just at Scott. His post contained the quote I needed.

 

I would love to know where I ever said she does not use acrylics. I have said she she uses watercolorand showed me some of that technique. I may have said I did not see her use acrylic in the short time I was there. But to say I said she never uses acrylic? That is a very different thing and I'd like to know where that comes from.

 

It was the night we (you, Liz, JBud and I) were at that French restaurant after the first night of WonderCon. We were looking over the Sotheby's catalog and I mentioned something about Susan using acrylics. You stopped me and said that she didn't use acrylics, she used watercolor. Anyway, it's not a big deal. As you clarified later, you weren't there to learn the entire universe of what could be done or what she did, you were there to learn 20 hours worth of restoration techniques and it's possible that you extrapolated that from the fact that she didn't use acrylics when you were there. (That 20 hours is 20 more hours of "formal" training in a professional's studio than I've ever had, so I'm not questioning your knowledge of the subject matter.)

 

Just so we're clear Michael, this wasn't about proving you wrong. It was about figuring out whether she actually used acrylics or not because I found it interesting that one pro would use a medium that another would not. Since I have seen some really bad acrylic jobs, I thought that maybe it wasn't a great medium to use and perhaps Susan could shed some light on why. That's all.

[PovertyRow]

Scott, I would never think you were trying to neg me in any way, and hope you don't really think that.

 

I was very confused because on the boards I have always posted pros use both acrylics and watercolors. Hmmm - I believe some wine was had that night and I may have mis-spoke MYSELF!

 

If that is what came out of my mouth, I probably intended to say I had never seen her use acrylics and she demonstrated with watercolor.

 

Dinner conversations with wine may not be the most accurate sources of definitve statements.