After my previous post I saw the chance to try something I had read about when researching MG ART 300 paper from Ilford. I had found one person in a discussion whose wife found the paper ideal for hand coloring with colored pencils. The paper has a strong texture or tooth. Previously when I have tried hand coloring with pencils I had found normal photographic paper resistant to taking much color. Gloss paper... forget it. Matte or Pearl is a bit better but still difficult.
I was left to using oil-based tints which worked with some success. They are messy and I struggle with getting color into small areas using a cotton swab/bud. Here is an
example I did a few years ago.
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| Earlier hand colored print in oils. (link to blog post above) |
This time I took the lighter of the two prints I made on Ilford MG ART 300 paper reference in the
earlier blog post. I used cheap colored pencils I got from a stationary store. The paper delivered on the ability to get the color onto the paper consistently. Since the color leads are hard I had to be careful to go over the paper lightly. Excessive pressure smooths out the paper and renders it 'toothless' and it won't take much color.
The result is the muted colors one sees in old hand tinted or color work. I left the dead cedar gray as the wood was that color. The canyon wall rendered in orange, the bushes in shades of green as I would image them. The grass in yellow. I was very pleased for an hour's work.
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| Hand colored print with colored pencils. |
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