Hand Colouring a Black and White Print

A black and white photograph selectively coloured by hand using dyes, fine brushes and a magnifying glass. 6 hours work condensed into 10 minutes.

This video demonstration was made to accompany an article i wrote for the September 2008 issue of Black and White Photography magazine (Published by the GMC Group in the UK).

To view more of my work please visit; www.andrewsanderson.com

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Photography
• Hand
• Colouring
• Alternative
• Processes
• Traditional.
• visual
• arts
• Black
• and
• White

[Quillcards]

Hi,

How do the dyes take on resin-coated paper?

I always struggled doing spotting with dyes on resin-coated paper.

[andrewsandersonphoto]

@Quillcards I never really had a problem with it. I began with RC papers, then moved on to FB later. Glossy RC papers need a touch of wetting agent or soap solution to make the dye flow over the surface evenly, but otherwise there are no other special considerations that I can think of.

Regards, Andrew.

[disench]

What wonders me in your techniqe: do you know how's the color timeproof? I mean: if I hang a print like this one, how long the color will last?

Any ideas?

Big respect for sharing the film and the still hand. Regards.

[andrewsandersonphoto]

Unfortunately, these kind of dyes are not very long lasting in UV light. I have prints which have been in daylight and faded badly in five years, but I have others which have been stored in boxes and drawers which still look good after 25 years.

[depso85]

hi,

is that glossy photo paper?

[andrewsandersonphoto]

It is glossy fibre based paper, which is not as glossy as resin coated.

It is Ilford Multigrade Warmtone FB paper.

[tylerpmac]

I recently purchased Marshall's photo oils and tried colorizing prints. I am using Ilford multigrade IV pearl paper and it doesn't seem to be working. The oils seem to be sitting on top of the print and not actually staining it. Even after it dries, I can still rub the color away with my finger. I don't know what i am doing wrong. Any advice would be helpful.

Thank you.

[Quillcards]

@andrewsandersonphoto Thank you. I think the lack of a wetting agent may be the reason I found spotting small spots difficult.

The tendency of the spotting dye to puddle made it difficult to build up from the lightest shade.

[airbrush911]

just the video i want to watch!

[photographyisfun]

I use oil colour, and I am happy with the results.

[photographyisfun]

I did not expect to find this on YouTube. I love hand-colouring my prints printed on b/w FB paper. I do this from time to time. This is handicraft and has its own beauty, which cannot be duplicated on traditional colour print (digital or film).