Photography has come a long way since I can remember. In the 90s when I was in high school, I bought a disposable film camera nearly every week. I carried them with me everywhere and amassed a pretty impressive collection of random high school memories. My favorite disposable cameras were the black and white ones, which I liked to paint with a set of Dr. Ph. Martin’s paint that my mom let me borrow from her art room.
Today I’m working with Canon USA and taking a time machine back to my high school days to show you my favorite painting technique. It’s so fun! So pick out a variety of your favorite black and white images, print them out and paint with me!
As always I used my Canon PIXMA iP8720 printer to print my photos on luster paper. The quality is amazing! No matter what size photos I am printing, I use 13×19 paper and arrange the photos in Photoshop on a 13×19 page. Here I am printing four photos, all 5×7 inches.
Supplies needed: Printed black and white photos, watercolor paints (I love these Dr. Ph. Martin’s brand, which you can find at most art shops), paint brushes and water.
Tip 1: Start with light coats of paint, water it down a bit before applying. You can always add more color, but you can’t go back if you apply too much.
Tip 2: Photos with more contrast and darker areas look more realistic when painted. Photos with large blocks of white space (or very light tones) will show more brush marks and look less realistic.
Tip 3: Print extras so you can practice! This is probably the most important tip. Not only is it good to practice your technique, but it’s also fun to try coloring different areas of the photo or experimenting with different colors before you commit.
You can see here that I tried something kinda weird on the bike photo. It didn’t end up being my favorite, but it was fun to try. And the sky on the house photo was just too much space to fill evenly, so on the final print I decided to leave the sky and focus the color just on the buildings.
The thing I enjoyed most about this project was the experimenting. Laura and I printed a bunch of extra prints and tried different colors and applications. I could do this all day. The “playing” part is by far my favorite!
I’m super in love with the result. It’s kind of a pop art effect. A little bit of an Andy Warhol vibe due to the punchy colors. Fun!
I framed my photos minimally with white mats and simple, inexpensive frames. I think they make a pretty rad grid as a set of four.
What do you think? Do you want to try this technique? Please do. I promise you’ll have fun. We’d love to see your photos on Instagram using #mybeautifulmess XX! Elsie
Credits//Author and Photography: Elsie Larson. Project Assistant: Laura Gummerman. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess Actions.
66 Comments
What type of paper do you use to print the photos?
this is awesome!
by the way…are you doing any more promo codes for this printer?
This is SUCH an amazing idea! I wonder if this would work on regular “glossy” prints you can buy from the store, or would the paint just smudge?
Thanks,
Kyia Belle
Canon Luster paper!
xx- Elsie
You can do it with any photo paper (as long as you allow it to dry before touching), but I found the matte paper easy to paint. 😀
xx! Elsie
Hi Ambar,
We don’t currently have any promo codes, but when we do we will post them here!
xx- Elsie
Love this idea! It would be a fun project to do with kids too! Thanks for sharing!
Laura
http://laurahager.blogspot.com/
When I was taking photography in high school, we actually had these photo markers we were allowed to use on our black and white prints. It was my favorite effect! I really need to try this for my next art project!
Thanks for sharing!
xoxo
Lauren
Dressing Dallas
This is so fun – and thanks for sharing your practice work! It’s always good to know that you go through a creative process too xo
Warm Regards,
Alexandra
http://www.littlewildheart.com
These are so cute! I love the houses and the bicycles, I’d never think to paint on black and white photos but it’s beautiful!
Wow! These look so beautiful and cool. Definitely wanna try this technique out soon 🙂
tonixox.blogspot.com
Cute, love these ideas!
Great idea! I am just starting a new scrapbook and I think I’ll incorporate this into the mix. Thanks for the inspiration!
http://www.ashleywilliamsdesigns.com/blog
Where are those frames from? I love them!
Soooooooo cute! Can’t wait to try this!
Kat | http://www.itgirlnextdoor.com
LOVE!! I’m going to try this weekend 🙂 I want to make some for our wedding (our theme is retro + COLORFUL)
Will share on insta 🙂 xo
This is an absolutely incredible idea. So beautiful. Thank you very much for sharing. Karla xo
I wonder if you could created a dip dyed look instead of filling the whole space? These turned out amazing! Such a great idea born from an older technique.
Do your photos have to be printed with pigment ink? I I’ve had problems with dye printer ink smearing in the past with traditional watercolors….
This is so fun!!!! I love this idea! My husband and I would have so much fun doing this together!
Love this idea!x
SO awesome!
These turned out so brillianty!!! I agree practice is key with any kind of art and creative work, I have to take on this project. Adore the whole pop-art feel it gives to the photos!
x Carina
Running White Horses | Fashion + Travel
Awesome idea! Im doing this on the weekend!
Beth.
http://www.modernmotherblog.com
This is so effective and really does look great!
I’d never have thought to do something like this, so thank you for the inspiration!!
The Everyday Life of Rachel
Wow such an awesome idea!
They look amazing! I want to try it really badly
This is SO lovely. I seem to paint anything and everything from handmade cards to sketchbook doodles lately. Can’t wait to give this a try!
Xx
heapsofme.com
Ahhh…I love this!!! What a great idea!
This is so cool! I might try a couple to decorate my craft room! xx
How fun, I love this!! Looks like a great project for the kiddos.
<3 Haley @ http://www.beautyinthischaos.com
Great idea,,I never thought of painting pictures before reading your post. Oh what paper did you use for the white frame?
http://tiptoeingworld.com
Esta idea ya la hacía la fotógrafa española Ouka Leele en Madrid en los años 80 y fue todo un éxito y una revolución en el campo de la fotografía. Me alegra saber que ha traspasado fronteras, aunque haya sido tanto tiempo adelante… Saludos desde España¡¡ 😉
These are so fun! I wouldn’t have even thought to do this.
-M
http://www.violetroots.com
Love this idea! The end result its just too cool! Can’t wait to try it.
Really like this effect. It is something I’ve been thinking of doing with some old black and white photos I have of the family. I presume I can just scan them in and then print them off before painting. Thanks
Great idea! Would love to try this but I think photos from my inkjet printer would smudge with watercolours sadly. Thanks for sharing another great DIY!
ISOSCELLA | isoscella.blogspot.co.uk
Awesome! In honor of your high school tradition maybe you could share some of your pics from back in the day! 🙂
So fun! I used to do this with my black and white photos when I was in high school too.
This is so fun! My grandmother used to color photos using a similar technique. Of course at the time you had to color your own photos because color photos didn’t exist yet!
I love it!
I will try this weekend ; )
This is genius!
Such a great idea! I definitely will be trying this soon! 🙂
What Dr Ph Watercolors do you have? Or can you recommend a set? They seem to be a little pricey, was just wondering if you have any suggestions. I’ve never used watercolors like those before. Thanks!!
Hobby Lobby.
xx! Elsie
That sounds fun!
xx- Elsie
I believe it would work with any prints, but you’d have to try out each individual combo to be sure! I tried the Canon Luster paper and something more matte and I liked the Luster better for the paint application. Hope that helps!
xx- Elsie
Oh, my goodness! This is adorable. I love how it’s classic looking with all the fun pops of color. Thank you for the beautiful idea, Elsie!
Anna Neumann from The Whistling Willow
I just bought pre-cut photo mats.
xx- Elsie
Yep!
xx- Elsie
I didn’t have any issues with smudging. You should try it!
xx- Elsie
I found mine on sale at Hobby Lobby for 30 bucks. If you get a smaller set, you can still mix the colors yourself!
xx- Elsie
Wow this is beautiful! Definitely going to give this a go Dreams and Colour Schemes
Eu amei essa técnica, com certeza vou tentar fazer. Ficou muito criativo é lindo 😀
http://joicyrecco.blogspot.com.br/
I love your hand-colored photographs!!!!!!
And I will definitely try it…
Thanks for sharing 🙂
xxx
Thank you!
What a great idea!
http://carinazz.blogspot.com/
I never would have thought of this. Great idea! http://www.hannamarielei.com
This technique is so cute! I love it!
http://www.homeschooledhoosier.blogspot.com
Did you try printing the photos on watercolor paper at all? Just wondering how that would turn out. Thanks!
What a great idea. Will be trying that one myself.
I love this idea, and these photos make for a great keepsake! Xo
http://www.theblushdiaries.com
This is so awesome! so gonna try this!
I used to hand color photos for a studio with my mother when I was young. I used oils, and have never tried watercolor. I’m going to try. Matte finish.
I am a high school teacher and I’m planning on using this method for a project. I am going to take your advice and try the watercolors you recommended. There are several kits available online. Which kit would you recommend. Each one seems to have different colors. Set of 12-14 etc are available. I’m not concerned about the price because I plan on using them for my own photography as well. Thank you
Melissa
Hello – thank you for the advice re: hand colouring photographic prints. Have you used a matte finish print to hand colour? Which P H Martin’s watercolour paints do you recommend?
Thank you.