Image: "Curious" tiny tree frog, jumbo eyes!
10 x 14 Black & white photograph hand-colored with alkyd-oil glazes
Lynell Morgan took this photo when she and Nancy Lee visited the Printery House, a publisher of greeting cards, in the Missouri countryside one summer. We walked to nearby Conception Abbey, where we spied this frog plus many others. Nancy Lee Moran painted over the black and white photograph with oil glazes, adding each color by hand.
Color: Some computer screens may modify the color of the art. Some may make the image lighter or darker than it is.
Image Size: 10 x 14 inches, photo mounted on museum foamcore
What is a Hand-Colored Photo?
Some people have asked me to create small original works that would be more affordable than oil paintings. In 2004, therefore, I began to use oil glazes on black and white (and also sepia) photographs, a process that takes less time than a full painting. Suppose I compare making a painting to the baking of a cake from scratch, from selecting the recipe to assembling all the ingredients. In that case, hand-coloring a photo is like putting the icing on a cake that has already been baked. It is the fun, colorful part, made easy because the photo supplies the drawing and values (light and dark areas).
Some people have asked me to create small original works that would be more affordable than oil paintings. In 2004, therefore, I began to use oil glazes on black and white (and also sepia) photographs, a process that takes less time than a full painting. Suppose I compare making a painting to the baking of a cake from scratch, from selecting the recipe to assembling all the ingredients. In that case, hand-coloring a photo is like putting the icing on a cake that has already been baked. It is the fun, colorful part, made easy because the photo supplies the drawing and values (light and dark areas).
I select a photo that I have taken. First I seal the photo, to protect it from the oil glazes. I then apply from four to twelve glazes of color and add texture by hand. For your information in regard to the uniqueness of these images, since 2004 until June 2007 I have painted on thirty-four photographs.
Unique art to bring warmth and beauty to your home, one of a kind. Even if I hand-color this image again, it will differ from this one since each color will be mixed and applied by hand.