"Hand Coloring Photographs" Facebook group

[pentaxuser]

It might be better to not attack the poor guy for inviting members here to a Facebook group. He wasn't asking you to sacrifice your firstborn....

@MarkL - look up Andrew Sanderson. He hand-colours his prints every now and then. Since he gives workshops on it, he may even join your group. He's on Facebook and Instagram.

Yes and the key question for us here should surely be be : Is there enough hand-colourers on Photrio who want to set up a group to make it viable for the OP to confine it to Photrio

Al I can recall is that someone called "edie," if I recall the name correctly, who mentioned handcolourig and submitted very good examples of his work but I haven't seen any examples from him of late

pentaxuser

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Back when my sister and I were kids around 1948, pros took and blushed pictures like this of family shots. (Edit: Just noticed they colored my sister's eyes blue which they were. Mine are brown)

 

[Don_ih]

the key question for us here should surely be be : Is there enough hand-colourers on Photrio who want to set up a group to make it viable for the OP to confine it to Photrio

My guess is there would be maybe 2 people on here who would actually break out the colours and post something and there would be 20 who chime in to say "I don't do this" and at least 5 who say "I don't see why anyone would do this" and maybe 15 who would comment "This is great". After a week, the thread would sink out of sight.

Facebook groups get enthusiasts, i.e., people who are currently enthusiastic about something and actively engaged in doing it or learning it. Those people drop in and out and are replaced by new people from the pool of 1 billion Facebook members.

However: the way Facebook structures comments makes it difficult to follow a conversation. You tend to have to work backwards all the time and continually expand the comments to see what people are saying. Facebook also more-or-less randomly chooses to hide comments from some users. Also, you can follow a group and new posts will not necessarily be shared to your "personal" feed. So, you will need to go looking. And you can't always "bump" an old post to the top of the group feed by leaving a comment (although sometimes you can). The newest is always emphasized on Facebook, while the oldest becomes harder and harder to find. There is no way to sort anything or organize anything. So it's ill-suited to anything beyond casual interest and conversation.

On here, you can occasionally get a more focused and sustained conversation.

 

[koraks]

Valid points @Don_ih .
"This is great", thanks.

 

[Ian Grant]

Ian, wow this work is incredible. And what you have done in your post is quite remarkable and very cool. I looked into the book you recommended (PAINTED LADIES, The art of hand-colouring in photography) and the reviews seem to say that there isn't much in terms of instruction but there are a lot of great artist samples. I just ordered a used paperback version.

I think in the case of "Painted Ladies" technique was way less important than the ideas and end results. You can approach hand colouring in different ways.

Personally, I preferred using toners and dyes, particularly as they left no visible trace on the paper surface. Initially when toning or adding colour dyes selectively to areas of a print I tried using masking fluid, but actually found it easy to work freehand with a variety of fine paint brushes. I would test with saved test strips & scrap prints, and had a variety of toners on the shelf. These included a standard Sulphide Sepia toner, Ilford IT-1, a Thiourea variable toner, IT-4 Gold toner, and alternative bleaches. A Ferricyanide Chloride re-halogenating bleach gives much warmer Sepia tones than on with Bromide, Iodide differs as well. Agfa (Orwo) Rezeptes listed 4 bleaches and then 4 toners for Sepia toning, so you had multiple permutations.

When I used Dye couplers I mixed my own, along with a simple colour developer which was applied by a small paint brush. There were formulae in the mid 1960s BJP Annual, this would have been 1985/6 as I photocopied the page from a girlfriend's father's Annual. Years later I have Annuals themselves.

It's something almost obsessional that you can really get absorbed in. I should have added I used Phototechnology Colour retouching dyes

Ian

 

[MattKing]

All of Don's points highlight how much potential value there might be in some sort of coordination between the two resources.
Photrio is accessible to the world.
It's just too bad that a private Facebook group is, well, on Facebook.

 

[Dan Dozer]

So - are these the sort of images you are interested in. Hand colored with Fotospeed Fotodyes. Twin Dragons silver print was toned with Thiourea toner first.

 

[Dan Dozer]

Two more - hand colored with Prismacolor pencils.

 

[Ian Grant]

Excellent Dan.

Ian

 

[axestrata]

This is a fantastic collection showcasing this art and its potential. However, I do agree with those on the point of having no interest in joining FB groups and the like.

 

[largo]

My attempt at hand-colouring a print on a matte FB paper:

I used watercolors. more details here :

 

[koraks]

Quite a successful attempt, too!

 

[pentaxuser]

It might be better to not attack the poor guy for inviting members here to a Facebook group. He wasn't asking you to sacrifice your firstborn....

@MarkL - look up Andrew Sanderson. He hand-colours his prints every now and then. Since he gives workshops on it, he may even join your group. He's on Facebook and Instagram.

Look! I've told you before about giving out sensible advice

pentaxuser

 

[Don_ih]

My attempt at hand-colouring

Impressive!

 

[F4U]

You could just as well create a "group" here. "Group" being defined by a thread aabout a particular subject that goes on for years and has a jillion posts. There are some threads like that here. I see them under the new posts category all the time. As for facebook, not a chance. I backspaced out what I think of that company, because so far, I'm managed to stay off the moderator's radar here.

 

[MattKing]

so far, I'm managed to stay off the moderator's radar here.

Are you sure. We just might have Canadian resources you know ?????

 

[F4U]

Are you sure. We just might have Canadian resources you know ?????

I'm sure Canada has the same world class resources as the other 50 states.

 

[koraks]

Now that did get you on our radar alright! Time to get off of it ASAP!

 

[F4U]

Back when my sister and I were kids around 1948, pros took and blushed pictures like this of family shots. (Edit: Just noticed they colored my sister's eyes blue which they were. Mine are brown)
View attachment 390836

That's a wonderful picture. I'm a 1956 baby, and those old family professional photography studios from that era are wonderful. In my entrance hall, my mother's bridal photo hangs. Remember all those papers Kodak offered? All named by an alphabet letter, and all paper based; no RC And the way these photos have held up,.. looking like brand new. Either the professional photographers were meticulous with their post-darkroom washing, or Kodak made remarkabler black and white paper for the ages, or both. You and your big sister look like good little boys and girls from families that loved you. I served a stint as a traveling photographer in the department stores for PCA (now defunct) back in the early 80's. I had lines of mamas and babies all day long, out the door waiting. I did my best, but the company printed color packages that didn't even make it through the the rest of the 80's without fading away. Thank you for the photo. Regards.

 

[Photosandpotatoes]

@MarkL I also want to get into coloring on prints! Did you decide on pencils or oils? (Or tones and dyes — did not know that was an option!) I have some pencils in my shopping cart — just might hit purchase now!

Unfortunately I recently deactivated Facebook/Instagram but if you post here or do a thread “group” here I’ll sporadically post or cheer ya on. (I’m definitely one of the “this is great!” posters but I’ll wear that as a badge of honor lol)

Just wanted to thank everyone for the tips so far and the artists to look up.

@Ian Grant you did that in a lecture? Amazing!

And @fgorga your hand colored portfolio is inspiring! (Along with your entire site, too!) Thanks for sharing.

So - are these the sort of images you are interested in. Hand colored with Fotospeed Fotodyes. Twin Dragons silver print was toned with Thiourea toner first.

@Dan Dozer What!! These are hand colored?? These are so cool!!

My attempt at hand-colouring a print on a matte FB paper:

View attachment 399064

I used watercolors. more details here :

@largo yo this is so good! And for your first try!! Bravo.

 

[pentaxuser]

Are you sure. We just might have Canadian resources you know ?????

Matt, difficult to be sure but doesn't the first operator look a bit like Andrew O'Neill? This might make "The Coquitlam Incident" an alternative title for the video


pentaxuser

 

[Patrick Robert James]

I used to hand color photos way back in the day. Haven't done it for a couple decades now. I probably should give it a whirl again. Fun to do.


Pencils for this one.

Oil paints for these. The key is to use transparent colors.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

These are fine, Patrick and Largo.

 

[Photosandpotatoes]

@Patrick Robert James woah! So good. Yall have really inspired me to get some pencils and give it a try.

 

[John Wiegerink]

largo, your picture above(#36) brings back memories of my very early childhood. In 1956 when I was 5-6 I would walk about 1/4 mile to my 78 yr old great aunts house where she had books and magazines from the early 1900's on up. Most all had some hand colored pictures in them and I'd spend hours just looking at those. She also had an old paper card stereo viewers with stacks and stacks of hand colored stereo pictures, which after awhile I knew all by heart. Even in my one room school house we had many pictures that were repo's of hand colored prints or however they did it at that time. The only problem I have with Facebook is I never put anything of my personal life there. I don't have a Facebook page and never will, but my wife is there so that puts me there too. She's like me and puts nothing personal on it. I do use their Facebook Marketplace and a couple scanner and photo forums to further my education, but that's about it. Good luck Mark and welcome!