Photo Oils recommendation, please
LJ Powell
chi...@cs.uiuc.edu (Sam HK Chiang) wrote:
>I'd like to try handcoloring B&W photos. From the book
>"Handcoloring Photography" by James A. McKinnis, he said
>the best is Marshall photo oils. My local stores don't
>carry Marshall brand but does carry Winton-Newton(?).
>How is Winton photo oils? Is there a good mail
>order place I can order Marshall photo oils? Thanks.
>Sam.
>--
>+------------------------------------+
> Computer Science Dept.
> U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
> chi...@cs.uiuc.edu
I belive the brand to are referring to is Windsor-Newton - they are a
well known manufacturer of oils.
A characteristic of Mashall's oils that makes them especially suitable
for coloring photographs is that they are transparent. That is, the
pigment will transfer to the surface of the print, but the paint will
not cover and obscure the underlying photograph. This is not the case
with traditional oils which would be used by painters. Before
investing in wondsor-Newton oils, you should verify that you are
actually getting transparent colors.
Actually, I would strongly recommend that you start your journey into
handcoloring with pencils rather than oils. It's much easier to do,
and it's a lot less expensive. Marshalls is again the best brand, but
I have a set of "Walnut Hill Farm" oil pencils which work very well,
as do Berol artists pencils. The key to using pencils is Marshall's
PMS, a combination of turpentine and vegetable oil, which you rub into
the print before applying the pencils.
You can mail order Marshall's products from Porters Camera Store,
Light Impressions, or Freestyle (check out www.freestylesalesco.com).
The McKinnins book is good, but IMO it tends to goo too far into
advanced topics (ultracolor, for example). There is another book
which is a few years older which covers the basics better. Don't
remember the authors, but a loarge bookstore such as Borders should be
able to find it for you.
Good luck
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Louie Powell
<LJPo...@ix.netcom.com>
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Sam HK Chiang
Robert Hudyma
chi...@cs.uiuc.edu (Sam HK Chiang) wrote:
>I'd like to try handcoloring B&W photos. From the book
>"Handcoloring Photography" by James A. McKinnis, he said
>the best is Marshall photo oils. My local stores don't
>carry Marshall brand but does carry Winton-Newton(?).
>How is Winton photo oils? Is there a good mail
>order place I can order Marshall photo oils? Thanks.
>
Hi Sam,
Stick to the Marshall's oils. They have the tansparency necessary for
BW print colouring. Regular artists' oils have "covering" power which
is what you want to avoid.
Do also try other materials, including oil pencils, food colouring
(may not be permanent), magic markers, re-touching dyes ...
The thing to remember about the liquid colours is to dilute them a lot
and add the colour to the print gradually.
Good luck,
Sandra, using Robert's account
email: sj.p...@westonia.com
James Baker
LJ Powell (LJPo...@ix.netcom.com) wrote:
: I belive the brand to are referring to is Windsor-Newton - they are a
: well known manufacturer of oils.
: A characteristic of Mashall's oils that makes them especially suitable
: for coloring photographs is that they are transparent. That is, the
: pigment will transfer to the surface of the print, but the paint will
: not cover and obscure the underlying photograph. This is not the case
: with traditional oils which would be used by painters. Before
: investing in wondsor-Newton oils, you should verify that you are
: actually getting transparent colors.
FYI, they are spelled Winsor and Newton. And, FWI, they work
very well for coloring photos as do the Grumbacher oils and
just about all other commercially available oils. They are
cheaper than Marshall's and you have the extra benefit of
a full palette (or just buy black, white and three primaries
and you've got every hue and intensity).
As far as any issue with opaqueness, just use any readily
available oil glazing medium and you can make any color as
transparent as you desire. An 8 ounce can costs about $5.00.
For prepping the surface, use linseed oil with a little bit
of turp (that's the same thing Marshall sells).
I've got nothing against Marshall, but their oils are
just plain old oil paint and more expensive (teenie little
tubes and a bunch of cotton and toothpicks that cost way too
much). But they are really not as good quality as Winsor and
Newton. If you've got a good clerk (e.g., an art student) at
your local art store, just tell him/her what you want to do
and they should set you up with what you need (or get a
catalog from a place like Daniel Smith in Seattle and do it
mail-order).
Richard Knoppow
jba...@email.unc.edu (James Baker) wrote:
Something to point out about oil coloring of photographs. There is
a vast difference between the usually seen lightly colored photo and a
really skilled job. The latter amounts to making an oil painting over
the photograph and requires as much skill in the use of oils as oil
painting does. The results can be very beautiful and don't bear much
resemblance to the usual oil colored photo, which look to me like
early color magazine illustrations. I've seen a couple of good books
on oil coloring. They are from the 1940's when the process was more
popular, but a good library should have them. But, real oil coloring
isn't simple or to be learned in an evening, so if you take this on,
be prepared to spend time and learn a real skill.
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, Ca.
dick...@ix.netcom.com
Michael Edelman
Richard Knoppow (dick...@ix.netcom.com) wrote:
: >
: Something to point out about oil coloring of photographs. There is
: a vast difference between the usually seen lightly colored photo and a
: really skilled job.
Very true.
For the novice without experience in oil painting (or some similar
medium) I'd recommend some oil based pencils, a small jar of medium,
and a box of Q-tips. Start out by applying light washes with pencil
and smoothing and blending with the Q-tips.
--mike
Ladygcf
I don't know if your aware that Marshalls also puts out a line of
photographic water colors. They're called retouch colors and are great
for painting. Again you dilute for color density and they dry faster but
you can also get a good wash from them and the color is permant when dry.
I prefer them to the oils.
Gerimoore
I would like to suggest to any disgruntled users, to try using emulsion
dyes. I love them. They lay right into the layer of paper emulsion and
don't sit on the surface like the oils do. The intensity of the colors is
controlled by dilution with water. Some brands aren't permanent, if you
don't like the result, you can wash it off and restart. When finished,
just spray to keep permanent. Very forgiving. Best yet, they can be used
on glossy paper. The best thing for removing red-eye problems. I often
put the base layer of color with the emulsion dyes, then add oil to
enhance. Just have fun with it.
Brian McNeill
You mentioned some dyes are not permanent - which brands?
TIA
--
Brian McNeill McNeill Photography 1511 Hatfield Valley Road
bm...@jtan.com Voice 215.368.3326 Hatfield, PA 19440
Fax 215.368.6807