Second Portrait

Hand Coloured Montages

 

Some of these people I am related, their photos found in boxes from my grandparents and parents. Some I can identify but others are nameless. I also acquired vintage photos from antique stores as well as flea markets. Photos of people that had been discarded or had no family left to preserve them is sad to me. This prompted me to want to give these people a new beginning, a second life.

 

These montages are a combination of my photographs to create a backdrop for the vintage portraits. I use textures to fuse my image together. When this part is completed, I convert the image to black and white and print it on watercolor paper. I then hand color them with watercolor and acrylic paints as well as colored pencils.

 

I began my art ventures as a painter and I wanted to recreate the old process of hand colouring with a twist. After the colorization process is finished I seal it with two layers of cold wax.