No. 384: Colorized!

No. 384, watercolor and colored pencil, October 2017.

This was a successful and interesting project that just might open up a new niche of business: Taking an old, black and white family photo and “draw-painting” it in color, using both memory and imagination.

I was presented in October a black and white shot of a brother and sister, from the 1960s, and asked to recreate it in color. Luckily it was a nice and clear Olan Mills-type photo, and the little boy has a good memory as a 56-year-old. We wrote out colors for clothes, hair, eyes and skin and I decided the best way to approach this was to watercolor paint in the basic colors, and then draw over them with colored pencils.
I had used this approach before on my paintings, to bring out fine details, but subtly.  This work is far more overt:  I’d say it’s 40 percent paint, 60 percent colored pencils.

The first step was to pencil in the shapes, and then to fill them in with watercolors of tan, brown, yellow, pink and red.  From there I penciled in the eyes, mouths and lips with a regular No. 2 lead pencil, and then colored and shaded them with the colored pencils.

I have acquired a large box of colored sticks from many sources and manufacturers and, for the record, the Crayola colored pencils are the strongest and most vibrant. The reds here, however, are a mish-mash of quite old pencils from the U.S. Steel Corp. that were used to mark drafting papers or perhaps metals.

It was the reds that took the most time: Her dress was not quite pink, his suit was not quite maroon and definitely not brown.  There were folds and fabric patterns to contend with, some shadows and a kerchief or medallion by his pocket.

We tinkered at the very end with sister’s eyes and then I decided to redo both of their lips. At the end I was told that I “nailed it.”
Actually I drew it, painted it, colored it in and blended it.

And we’re all happy with the result, including the mat matching the “draw-painting.”
An old family heirloom is now a new one for this particular family, for whom I have done several other pieces.

Can I do one for you sometime?
Contact me at willstom01@gmail.com or find me on Facebook or http://tomwillsproductions.blogspot.com/