Graphic Arts Conservator-Restorers work on any artwork on paper and parchment. This includes drawings with various techniques, but also pastels, prints, lithographs, posters, wallpapers, drawings on tracing paper and even oil artwork on paper. It is a vast field, where the artwork dimensions can vary quite a bit.
Paper ages with light, heat, and moisture; it is chemically damaged. Contact with acidic materials (old mounting boards, animal glues, etc.) or dust are also harmful to the artwork, because they allow mould growth. Some insects eat paper or feed on surface-applied glue. Some of the drawings' graphic techniques may be fragile or flaky (brown ink, pastels, etc.) Mishandling is also responsible for tears, gaps or loss of pictorial material.