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QUESTION:

Hi, I am a student at a High School and I take an independent study for Photography. My tutor and I are trying to figure out how to hand color. We have your article in a magazine here that gives us some advice on how to do it. It says that you can just color directly on the photograph. Well, it does not work for us. We have to spray Fixatif on it before we start to color and then we have to hurry up and color before it dries. I was wondering if you know what is wrong and why we cannot directly color on the photograph? Thank you for your time.

-- Chris

MS. AIREY'S ANSWER:

Dear Chris:
There are many factors to consider here.

1. What type of paper are you using? Use a semi-matte or matte paper

2. What type of coloring medium are you trying to use? That will determine the paper you should select. Or select a paper and determine what medium will match it. Most matte paper will take pastel pencils, oil pencils, and watercolor pencils. The oils will go on some RCs and glossy papers that have received a pre-coat.

3. If you are in a very humid room or area, the paper will fill up with moisture and will not take any kind of coloring medium. Keep your paper in a dry area, definitely not in the darkroom Lastly, my book, "Creative Photo Printmaking" has a very good chapter on handcoloring and what mediums go on different papers. You should check it out. A lot of schools use it as a text for alternative processes.

Theresa Airey