Photograph Hand Painting of 1920s , How it is done ?

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

I have 100th year issue of National Geographic and I sawthere a 1920 Japanese Portrait in the Flower Decoration hand painting. Colors were like Autochrome and I saw the hand painted photographs at the our APUG Gallery also.

What was the technique at 1920 and today ? Were they painting BW Glass Negatives to color or Were they extra color the autochromes.

What is the technique for today where smaller slides are general. Is it applied to film or print today.

Is it possible to find 1920s authentic colors ?

Thank you ,

Umut

 

[DennyS]

The hand coloring that I'm familiar with uses Marshall's oils, applied on the print. I've seen tubes from the 1940's, they look about the same as newer tubes of oil, and the names of the colors don't seem to have changed much if at all. Though I suspect some of the chemicals used for the colors may have changed over the years, I think the results look about the same. Google Gail Skoff and see some of her hand colored images using this technique.
Hope this helps,
Denny

 

[eddie]

Marshall's are the best known (and as far as I know) the only company still producing them. Any good quality oil paint will work. I use Winsor-Newton, Pebeo, Grumbacher, and Kodak (even though they haven't made them in decades).
Everyone develops their own technique. I use cotton balls, Q-Tips, and medical applicators to apply them. To remove them, I use pencil shaped typewriter erasers (eraserstiks) which I shape with fine sandpaper.
It's a lot of fun, but it takes a while to master.
My website (which hasn't been updated in too long) has other examples.