Painted Photos

[rcleary171]

I enjoy old photos that were retouched with paint. So I decided to give it try. This is my first successful attempt. I kept it simple to see how the watercolor would stick on the flat photo surface. Please feel free to post similar work. Words of advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Artyczar]

Very nice!

 

[Terri]

Nice work with the watercolors! I'm curious about your image - did you print this out onto watercolor paper? It looks sepia toned: was that done with photo editing software prior to printing? Or did you do a wash?

Words of advice will be greatly appreciated.

As a handcoloring artist from way back, I'm happy to help however I can. I never used watercolors, mainly because I was using gelatin silver prints from my darkroom, and used photo oils and photo oil pencils for the most part. But, I've done some inkjet stuff, too. Happy to share results if you'd like to see anything you think could help you along.

Good job!

 

[ntl]

Interesting. I found some old--1965 or so--photos, maybe I'll give it a try. Are photo oils different than the OPs and oil pencils I have in my paint box?

 

[rcleary171]

Nice work with the watercolors! I'm curious about your image - did you print this out onto watercolor paper? It looks sepia toned: was that done with photo editing software prior to printing? Or did you do a wash?


As a handcoloring artist from way back, I'm happy to help however I can. I never used watercolors, mainly because I was using gelatin silver prints from my darkroom, and used photo oils and photo oil pencils for the most part. But, I've done some inkjet stuff, too. Happy to share results if you'd like to see anything you think could help you along.

Good job!

I use photo editing software on my phone for cropping and effects. I used a service to develop the digital photos on non-glossy paper. The photo I published was my only success with watercolors. I’m not familiar with photo oils. I will want to give them a try.

 

[rcleary171]

Interesting. I found some old--1965 or so--photos, maybe I'll give it a try. Are photo oils different than the OPs and oil pencils I have in my paint box?

I hope to find out soon.

 

[JStarr]

Can't advise on any of the technicalities of physical photo manipulation, but I do like the way the yellowing grass makes the whole scene *pop*; your "only success" is quite successful.

 

[Terri]

Interesting. I found some old--1965 or so--photos, maybe I'll give it a try. Are photo oils different than the OPs and oil pencils I have in my paint box?

Yes, photo oils are different. They do have some things in common with oil pastels - both are oil-based media and have slow drying times. But photo oils are designed for transparency, so color can be applied in layers but you still easily see the image through it. Oil pastels, depending on brand and certain individual sticks, are mostly opaque as they are designed for painting and drawing. But as you likely know, some are more transparent than others, and those would be lovely to use as a hand coloring medium.

There are artists who use images as sketches, and use opaque media deliberately to obliterate the photographic image, and that can be fun, and easy to achieve when using a good photo printer. Lots of choices!

 

[Terri]

I hope to find out soon.

You can still find Marshall's Photo Oils on places like eBay, and not worry too much if they're older as long as the seller guarantees the small tubes haven't been punctured. They're archival and last for years in those tubes. Excellent quality.

For newer photo oils, Arista makes a complete line of photo oils. That's also where you'd look to get small bottles of cleaner and prep solutions. Those may not matter depending on your paper.

The main thing to keep in mind when using photo oils is the very basic tenet than oil + paper don't mix, so there has to be some kind of ground. It could be embedded in the paper (like Arches Oil paper) or you apply a prep like clear gesso. If you don't have some kind of barrier, the oils will sink into the paper and not be blendable, though oil pencils fare a little better. It's all about experimentation and play.

Here's an inkjet print I made when I had an infrared negative that I loved, but the little bugger bent when I loaded it onto the reel for developing. (Kodak HIE infrared film was the best ever, because it had no antihalation which gave images that glow, but also made the film so thin it was prone to crinkles.)

So the negative was bent and couldn't be used in the darkroom. I scanned it instead and repaired it digitally a little, then used Bergger inkjet paper to print it out. This paper has since been discontinued by Bergger, but had a perfect top coating that allowed photo oils to glide right over. I'm showing you this as an example of what can be saved and still usable even if you think your negative won't work.

Southern Gothic:

The crescent shape in the clouds is the crimp and my little secret - don't tell anyone!

Hope this helps.

 

[NedL]

You can still find Marshall's Photo Oils on places like eBay...

Wow that's gorgeous. ( When I first started using acros, it seemed like I'd always get a crescent on the first frame into the spool. A terrible feeling because you can feel/hear that "crinkle" ... cringe! )

 

[Terri]

Wow that's gorgeous. ( When I first started using acros, it seemed like I'd always get a crescent on the first frame into the spool. A terrible feeling because you can feel/hear that "crinkle" ... cringe! )

Thank you! You definitely get it - it's awful to feel as well as hear it. And of course, it's always going to be THE best exposure or composition of the roll.