Vintage Photo

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Adding soft, otherworldly colors to a black and White Photo can lend an antique feel to even the most modern subjects. The colors can add a life-like blush to the cheeks of a child, or draw attention to a single element, like a bride's bouquet or a sunset sky. Whether you are incorporating a photo into a craft or composing a scrapbook page, consider using this effective technique for making your images special.

The art of photo tinting began in the 1840s, when artists first brushed colored oils on sepia-toned daguerreotypes (an early photographic method) for a touch of realism. Most often, coloring was limited to a little pink on the lips and cheeks. The more artistic tinters would color hair, clothing, flowers, and even add metallic highlights for buttons or jewelry. Many of these early tinting artists were applying skills from the preceding era, when miniature likenesses were hand-painted on ivory. Today, tinting photography is an art rarely practiced by hand, but more often as a digital enhancement technique found in some computer graphics programs.

You can tint your own black and white photos or illustrations in several ways.

• Purchase photo tinting pens or markers at your craft store. They are made in many color shades and several tip sizes. Most work best with matte finished images. Go lightly and let it dry before inking over the same spot, since getting the paper too saturated may blemish the photo.
• Photo-tinting oils can be applied with a brush or cotton swab. For this method, you should spray the photo surface with a matte-finish protective coating first. The colored oils have a long drying time, so it is possible to blot or even wipe off excess color as you work. Let these photos dry for several days before handling them.
• Watercolors, oil pastels and oil colored pencils can be used to add subtle color. With watercolors, some tinters recommend soaking the photo paper in water for 15 minutes, then blotting it dry before you brush on watercolor paint. This allows the paint to be absorbed into the paper rather than sit on the surface, making a softer shade. Oil pastels are most effective when you saturate the area to be colored with a solvent (turpentine or mineral spirits) before you apply the pastel with a cotton swab, cotton ball or brush. If the image is very detailed, you can use oil-based colored pencils, using the same solvent method as for pastels. Always apply lightly at first to control the color intensity.
• For digital images, use your computer graphics program (like Adobe Photoshop or Corel PaintShopPro) to add color. You can even start with a color photo, duplicate the photo as a second layer, change the top layer to black and white (desaturate the color), and then selectively erase the top layer where you want the original color layer to show through. Alternatively, you can turn your original image to black and white (desaturate the color) and then colorize elements in your photo using the colorfill or brush tools in the graphics program. You will have to create a new layer for each color you add.

When altering photos, protect your original and work with a copy. With any of these methods or products, follow the manufacturer's labeling and instructions. You'll be rewarded with a photographic effect both nostalgic and beautiful.

Scott Henderson founded Vintage Image Craft for crafters and scrapbookers who love creating with vintage images. Visit http://www.vintageimagecraft.com for free ideas, techniques, instructions and vintage image downloads.

Vintage President Autographs

There are a lot of people who are in the market for vintage collectibles. In this article I am going to discuss vintage president autographs. I have put together a list which includes seven different ways that autographs can and have been duplicated.

1. Handwritten Documents

It was common in the eighteenth-century for presidents to have secretarial copies made of all their important papers to be kept on file. The secretaries would copy the documents in their own handwriting, sign the president's name, and below that signature, sign their own. This accounts for the "G. Washington" signatures on authentic period manuscripts. These were carefully marked as file copies.

2. Land Agent Signatures

During Lincoln's presidency, "Lincoln-signed" land grants were being signed regularly by land agents. Land agents were given the authority to sign for the president and then noted with their own signature beneath (e.g., A. Lincoln by John Smith). This was a routine procedure until President Andrew Jackson decided to do away with this time-consuming task.

3. Proxy-Signers

A Proxy-signer is someone who has been authorized to act for the signer. Dating back to George Washington, most of the secretaries that have been used by US Presidents to handle their correspondence have acted as proxy-signers, instead of trying to duplicate the presidents signature.

4. Forged Autographs

There are many dishonest people out there who will forge autographs in such a way that it is almost impossible for the amateur collector to discern. They will go to great lengths to make their signatures seem authentic. For example, they will use blank pages in old books to write the signatures on to make it appear to be from that era. These forgers are just looking to make money from unsuspecting collectors. If in doubt, consult with a professional collector who should be able to tell the difference between forged and authentic documents.

During the Civil War, (Confederate States) President Jefferson Davis had his wife sign many of his dictated letters. She did such a good job that she started putting a period after the signature she wrote so that he could tell which ones she signed.

Watch out for other deceiving practices where a page with a President's quote and signature is cut out from a book and doctored up into something else entirely. Some of these fraudulent creations have included these presidents: George W. Bush, Richard Nixon, John F. Kennedy and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

5. Preprinting

Many sellers on eBay use a method called "preprinting". The item they are selling may be only a photocopy of an actual autographed photo which has been printed on glossy photo paper. If someone is offering a "preprinted" autographed photo, this information should be made clear to the buyer. However, to be safe, make sure you read all of the fine print before buying anything.

6. Hand-Stamp

Some presidents, such as Andrew Johnson, Warren Harding, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, at some previous time, used a rubber or steel hand-stamp to sign their documents.

7. Autopen

The autopen is a mechanical pen that makes perfect facsimile (duplicate) signatures using a signature template known as a matrix. Harry Truman is believed to have been the first United States President to use the autopen. From about the Eisenhower era of the 1950s until today, almost all American presidents have had the autopen to reproduce presidential signatures.

Just remember that some unscrupulous autograph sellers may be able to obtain or produce one of these autopen templates to mass-produce autographs for re-sale.

About the Author

DLDowney
http://booksonbooks.com

Who is the model on this vintage photo?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rizzato/3363713048/sizes/l/
This is the photo. This one exactly is a reproduction so it's not the original photo, but anyway.

Sara Morrison. Face only.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/saramorrison/3055469935/

The body could be any 1950's/60's beach babe. The image is all over the internet...
Like.... http://imgfave.com/view/319789

Hilary Moss: The Sartorialist Talks About His Vintage Photo Contest
Avid Sartorialist readers might have noticed a little something different going on lately on the blog by Scott Schuman.

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