From the beginning of the 20th century, right up through the 1950s or
so, commercial hand colouring was relatively common. Today, there are a
few photographers who keep the spirit alive.
Being exposed to photography and art
since I was five has made me fall in love with all things creative...
I've been using oil and acrylic paints, water color and pencils and yet
found a number of ideas with this man that made me again truly inspired.
How can I not ask to post this? this man clearly has a great talent... Meet Bob Keefer. He allows me to post here how he does a hand-coloured photograph from start to finished.
This 8×10-inch black and white photo of summer leaves was shot on Tri-X
and developed in Rodinal, a good combination for hand coloring, and
printed on Luminos Charcoal paper, which, sadly, is no longer
available. Here it’s taped to a work table to be colored.
I use regular artist acrylic paints and brushes for my work.
After quickly sealing the surface of the photo with clear matte acrylic
medium and letting it dry, I begin by painting areas of transparent
yellow acrylic on the leaves….
..Then I start mixing darker olive green into some of the other leaves.
At this point the image looks a little ragged.
I pick up a wash of ultramarine blue and clear medium on a brush; the
color is an excellent one for darkening and deepening shadow areas.
At this point I’m just incrementally adding color, drying the paint, stepping back, taking a look, and adding some more.
Here I’ve just painted in some burnt sienna, a good warm reddish color,
in some of the leafs. This really adds some subtle sparkle.
I sign my work on the front, in paint.
The final product.
About Bob Keefer
Bob has a degree in the study of religion from Harvard University.
He’s been a newspaper writer for 30 years and now writes about art for
The Register-Guard in Eugene, Oregon. In 2006 he was a fellow at
National Endowment for the Arts workshop on theater and musical
theatre. He crafts fine hand-colored photographs the old-fashioned way,
using film. He uses a chemical darkroom, fiber-based paper and artist’s
paints, without using Photoshop or any such new-fangled technology. No
PhotoShop involved. Each resulting print is a unique work of art.
- taken from Photocritic.org
