Back in the old days...way before color film and way, way, way before digital...a lovely technique was used to bring color to photographs. The art of handtinting started with black-and-white prints made in the darkroom on fiber-based photographic paper. Using a special oil paint that allowed the image to show through, a tint of color was added to the image. The density of the coverage and the "reality" of the colors was up to the photographer/artist. Many of us (me included!) have photos from our earlier days that were tinted using this technique. And most antique stores have boxes of old handtinted postcards from the 30's and 40's...with what we now classify as a "vintage" look.
Although the art of handtinting faded away with the advent of color film, it is still practiced by a few of us today. It's actually a lot of fun and there is something to be said for being able to turn off the computer for awhile.
I've been tinting photographs for more than a decade and I'm fortunate enough to have my own darkroom to work in. Although it's getting more difficult to find the necessary materials, it's worth the effort. The paints I use are the original Marshall's oils...pretty much the same product that was introduced in the 30's by the Marshall company and still carrying their name.
Living in a picturesque Victorian seaport, I've found the perfect scenes images for applying this art. Take a look at the images in the slideshow! (These and more are included in my book, Greetings from Port Townsend.)
(The scans are not terrific...I will be assembling some better versions shortly...!)