hand painted photography
originals . commissions . workshops

Technique

What is Hand Painted Photography?

The term is misunderstood & requires a clarification of terms as they are used.

Hand Tinting is a light blush of transparent color

Hand Coloring is where the shading has more details and complexities. Colors are stronger than in tinting

Hand Painting techniques, pigments are applied with brushes and other painting tools and employs one or more of the traditional painting techniques. Brushes allow for more intricate detail work but are slower execution. Colors can run the gamut from blush of color to very intense colors.

I begin by scouting my location to determine the best light, time of day to shoot and relative position to the subject. Depending on the subject, I may experiment with different exposures and shutter speeds, sometimes intentionally allowing some elements in a landscape to blur. At this time, I decide which elements should be painted and which will be left black and white. I arrange these elements within the frame accordingly. I do not take color reference shots but rather, make notes on the colors I want to use in each element. All prints are made on Ilford Gallerie Fiber-based Warm Tone paper using archival processing methods.

My unique Hand Painting technique is a painstaking process of applying multiple layers of transparent and opaque oil paints directly to the emulsion of black-and-white photographs that yields an ethereal glow. I employ a combination of traditional Photo Coloring and Painting on Canvas layering techniques, such as, glazing, scumbling, and impasto. In some areas, the paints are thin and transparent to allow the photographic details to shine through the layers of paint. In other areas, the paint is applied thick and opaque with visible descriptive brushwork obscuring the photograph. The combination adds texture and depth. Each layer must be thoroughly dry before adding the next keeping the colors pure and crisp, creating an image that is part photograph, part painting.

I love to puzzle the viewer forcing them to stop and ask: What is that? Is that a photograph or a painting? I have created a distinctive style influenced by a combination of elements or techniques found in the work of Wallace Nutting, Edward Hopper, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, and Maxfield Parrish.

Artists Statement

Biography

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