Garage Sale Oil Painting, Need Help w/ the Signature

[bigcaddy64]

I usually spend my Saturday mornings at an estate sale or doing things around the house but since the weather has been so nicely lately, garage sales have been sprouting up like weeds. I was coming back from the market when i saw a man posting signs so i followed him home where i purchased this oil painting.

It was definitely done by somebody who has some training but i bought it because i like it but i would like to know more about the person who painted it.

I can make out the first part of the name, G.P. Ka and thats about it. It gets too obscured by the background for me to read it. I'm not big on researching art but would like to be pointed to an easy to use website that might help ID this painter and more artists down the road.

Does anybody here have a website the recommend?
Thanks

 

[diggummup]

Try "G. Koopman," looks like his style. Nice painting. I love the western scenes. Especially Arizona.

 

[bigcaddy64]

Thanks for the information! I looked him up but couldn't find anything about him but the image search showed lots of Koopman paintings. The only difference between mine and one online that i see is an actual Koopman is signed very clearly. This one is much harder to read. I might have to have somebody who knows about this kind of stuff give it a look.

 

[diggummup]

I was just going by the style and area of country that was depicted in the painting. Found some similar images and saw the name was similar to the letters you posted. Your painting looks like it could use a good cleaning. Does the signature look like it might match? I can't really see much in the photos.

 

[bigcaddy64]

It definitely needs a good cleaning so that's first on the to-do list. I'm hoping once it's clean the signature will be easier to read

Is cleaning something that can be done at home or is spending the money worth it? I only paid 10.00 for it so I don't want to go overboard putting money into it

 

[diggummup]

I don't know a thing about art or art restoration so I googled it. I came up with this... How to Clean an Oil Painting: 12 Steps - wikiHow