My first effort at coloring an old B&W photo

[Lilla]

This is my first attempt at coloring a B&W photo.
My goal was a watercolor rendition of the photo.

This photo taken in early 1930's is of my maternal G.Grandparents. We have very few photos of them. I knew my Mom would like the restored b&w version, but I didn't expect her to like the colored version, because she normally she likes to keep the photos very true to the original, but she surprised me - she liked the watercolored version a lot.

- First I restored the photo using a combination of PhotoImpact 6 and Picture Window.

- Second, I used PhotoImpact 6 to add watercolor brush stokes.
Effect > Natural Painting > Watercolor

- Third, in PhotoImpact, I colored it using the
Retouch > Colorize Pen

I would appreciate your feedback, opinions, tips, thoughts, etc. on how I could make it better.

My BEFORE/AFTER images:

- To see my BEFORE image, click here
http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/att...s=&postid=1931

Or see my post titled "See Lilla's BEFORE image here..." posted on 24 Aug. This shows the original image.

- To see my AFTER image, which includes the changes I made based upon feedback received in this thread, click the link below:

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/att...s=&postid=1932

Or see my post titled "See Lilla's AFTER image here..." posted on 24 Aug.


Thank you, Lilla

[Doug Nelson]

You'll need to attach it or give us a URL

[Lilla]

Doug, thanks. I added a link to my original message.

I tried to upload the file along with the message, but it would not take it even though it was less than 102,400 bytes. I decided it was due to server problems because it was not responding normally, and after I gave up, I found I could not access any of the forums.

[Doug Nelson]

Yes, there were server probs last night. Sorry you got caught in the midst.

Very nice colorization (great pic, too)

Only advise I could offer is to even out the saturation. Some areas are lots more saturated than others, which is fine for artistic effect, but for realism the eye says 'something's off here'.

[thomasgeorge]

Lilla; NEAT PICTURE!!!! Have you tried printing it on watercolor paper? I think you've got a keeper there. I like the style and, again, I would suspect that printed on either Watercolor type paper or a felt type would produce exceptional results. ANOTHER PICTURE WINDOW USER---YEA!!! Tom

[Doug Nelson]

OK, Tom, meet me over in the Software forum and explain what the heck this 'Picture Window' is

[DJ Dubovsky]

Lilla,

I like it just the way it is. I am drawn to vivid colors and you did a great job on that one. You really highlighted the trees and shrubs well too. It really stands out nicely and I personally would leave it just the way it is. Excellent job!!
DJ

[paulette conlan]

Dear Lillia,
Learning to color b&w photos is of particular interest to me.From my trial and error I have learned that less is more. I personally would have made the color values weaker unless you want that particular effect. It's important to use a color blend mode so that the tonal qualities show through. Also start out with a very low opacity when you paint on the new color.Use the skin and hairtone file on this site and take samples of grass color etc. from photos that youv'e scanned in.I also like the effect of creating a sepia tone image and then adding some spots of color. I did this with a wedding picture and it came out beautifully. Something else I did which turned out nice was I took an old b&w photo of my mother as a young woman and placed her(keeping her b&w) in a colorful flower garden.She's been deceased for a few years now and I wanted to create a special gift for my Dad.
Paulette

[Lilla]

Doug, thanks for the feedback.

You are right, my goal on this piece is an artistic rendition, rather than a realistic rendition, but perhaps there are places where a more even saturation would be better even for my artistic rendition. I will experiment with this.

I'm glad you like the photo and the way I colored it! And, again thanks for the feedback.

Lilla

[Lilla]

Thomas, I'm so glad that you like the photo and the way I colored it.

I have, so far, only printed it on Epson Photo Paper, and it looks good. Your idea of printing it on a watercolor paper, or perhaps a felt paper, is intriging. I have the Canon S800, I'll investigage those papers.

Question: Would a matte paper be about the same as a felt paper?

Lilla

[thomasgeorge]

Lilla, The Matte papers are not as heavy or have the same ink absorbtion properties /texture as the watercolor or felt papers. I have found that when printing on them(the felt/watercolor type) I use a medium quality setting as printing at a high res. can result in over saturation and consequent dulling of the image on the paper. For art type prints which simulate painted or sketched subjects the best results will be on the "art papers". Heavy matte paper is excellent for its fade resistance and longevity as well as being a bit more economical. I use the Epson heavyweight Matte ALOT especially for restores I suspect will not be displayed behind glass or in some other protected manner. Hope this helps. Tom

[Doug Nelson]

I'm a big Heavyweight Matte fan

[Lilla]

DJ, thank you so much for those words of appreciation.

This is the first photo that I was drawn to add color to. And from the start it was the vivid colors that I visualized.

I'm glad you like it "as is". I'm happy with it "as is" too, although I'm perfectly willing to experiment further.

One thing I'm noticing is that her legs seem a bit dark compared to her face, I'll try lightening her legs a bit.

Lilla

[thomasgeorge]

DOUG!!!! THE SMILIE FACE!! IT'S MOVING!!! IT'S ALIVE!!!! IT'S ALIVE!!! tom

[kathleen]

oh lilla,

i really really like it. i like it a lot.

as it was loading, i thought, oh, it's gonna be too bright; but when it arrived - gee, i just really like it.

thanks for sharing it.

[Lilla]

Paulette,

Thank you for the detailed comments. I will experiment with the methods you suggest as I want to learn how to do the realistic renditions that I see submitted in the challenges too.

The soft colors and realistic style you describe sounds quite nice. The result would be stikingly different from my artistic rendition, but I'm quite sure I would like it done your way too.

I wonder if Doug would like to use this photo (or another similar one that I have) for a art/colorize challenge, with the freedom to colorize the photo using a realistic or artistic approach, a watercolor rendition, an oil painting rendition, a pop art rendition, or whatever?

My current skill level is limited to the artistic rendition that I offer here, but I'm learning. The posted examples and feedback in the forums here, and also the artists notes in the challenge submissions are very helpful.

Lilla

[Ed_L]

Lilla,

Super job! The only things I would have done differently, is that I would have lightened her right arm a little, and tried to make her skin tones more like his. The only other thing is the tree stump (?). The white space (on the left) makes me wonder what it is, and draws my eye to it. Other than that, I really like the image as is.

Ed

[paulette conlan]

Dear Lillia,
I totally misunderstood what you were attempting to do with the photo. Didn't realize that you wanted to create an artistic effect. Technically you did an excellent job and the use of the vivid colors gives it an almost contemporary effect. The techniques I had been taught are the traditional ones to colorize a b&w to simulate how it would have looked if it were taken in color. One very interesting thing I learned here is the importance of communication before working on a photo for someone. Find out what they want the finished photo to look like.
Paulette

[Lilla]

Ed,

I agree with you, her skin coloring should be more like his and her right arm (and legs) should be lighter. I'll work on that.

About the tree stump? The photo we have is a copy of a copy sort of thing and the detail is hard to make out there. I couldn't decide it was a tree stump or a low hanging clothes line with shorter things like maybe dish towels, or ? hanging on it. So I went in the direction of dish towels and added the white and my eye liked seeing the white over there, but I agree that it does look a bit TOO low to be a clothes line so maybe it's not.

I'm not sure just what that is. Maybe I'll experiment with giving it more definition to be a tree trunk and see how that works, but I'm wondering if it might be something other than a tree trunk, but what?

Thanks for the feedback.
Lilla

[Doug Nelson]

And that stain/dark area of grass next to his left foot just bugs me

[Lilla]

There, there, don't cry Paulette . I did not take offense at your suggestions. You saw a different picture opportunity than I did that's all. Your suggestions were well intended and are ones that I can learn from, thank you for sharing them with me.

I'm glad that you like the vivid colors and artistic effect that I used Paulette.

Lilla

[Lilla]

Doug, I'm glad you said that because I don't like that either. I'll do some work there. Anything else, please let me know...

Lilla

Originally posted by Doug Nelson
And that stain/dark area of grass next to his left foot just bugs me

[Ann Jordana]

Lilla,
What a wonderful color rendition ... truly, a great job!
Ann

[Lilla]

I think I'm finished with it now. I've encorporated all the suggestions made in the group, and some of my own, and I'm pretty well pleased with it at this point.

- I worked on the skin tones - big improvement there.
- I restored the "thing" on left from original and left it alone, since I don't know what it is. It seems too squarish to be a stump.
- I added some more flowers.
- I made the texture in the sky more even
- I removed the dark areas in the grass
- I made it into an album page (sized to fit 8x10 frame or mat) and added storyline and small photo of my grandmother.

To see my watercolored image with above improvements, click here:

http://www.retouchpro.com/forums/att...s=&postid=1932

Or if the link above doesn't work, see my posted titled "See Lilla's AFTER image here..." posted on 24 Aug 2001.

I wanted to share the final result with the group, and to say thank you all so very much for your input and kind words of appreciation and encouragement.

Lilla

[Doug Nelson]

Maybe attach before/after in case that link disappears in the future?

[Lilla]

I have attached my BEFORE image here. I will attached my AFTER image in a separate/next post. This assures that others can view my image even if my home page links should change. I originally used links to my home page.

Lilla

[Lilla]

I have attached my AFTER image to this post. I attached my BEFORE image in a separate/previous post. This assures that others can view my image even if my home page links should change. I originally used links to my home page.

Lilla

[Lilla]

Doug, good idea. I uploaded my BEFORE/AFTER images and replaced the links to my homepage with links to the attachments. Is this what you had in mind?

Is it OK to link to attachments the way I did? I mean are they guaranteed not to change? If so, I can pull my "if this link doesn't work, see my post titled... posted on ..." qualifier. It's handy being able to link to an attachment, I hadn't thought about trying that before.

Lilla