You can add color to your photographs with paint.
If you want your photographs to make a strong impact, print them in black and white and hand-paint them to give them a pop of color. Hand-painting photographs can make your snapshots look a bit surreal with just a tint, or can give them the appearance of a very realistic oil painting. It's not a difficult technique to learn; you don't have to be an artist, you just have to be able to color your photo with paint.
Instructions
1. Cover your work surface with newspaper or a drop cloth to protect it.
2. Print your image on matte photo paper in the size you desire. Have your photo printed with a thick white border for handling. You can trim it when the paint dries. Make sure your image is free of dust, debris and finger prints before starting.
3. Tape your print down by the corners to your work surface with a low-tack drafting tape. This will prevent your photo from moving, and drafting tape will not damage your photo's surface.
4. Put the colors you want to use on your photograph onto a palette.
Squeeze small dabs of oil photo paint in the colors you plan to use onto your palette or on a sheet of waxed paper. Decide what areas you wish to color; you can paint the entire photo, or just fill splashes of color in a few places for impact.
5. Dip a cotton swab lightly into the paint. As you start to color your image, you should work from left to right (or right to left if you are left-handed). Alternately you can work from the top to the bottom. This will prevent your hand from brushing an area already painted and damaging the surface.
6. Rub the paint on with the cotton swab, using a gentle circular motion to cover an area. For example, if you are coloring an apple in your photo, begin with very tight, concentric circles, getting bigger and bigger as you work your way out to the edges of the apple, thus spreading the paint out thinner and thinner as you go. Continue to rub and blend until you are happy with the shade of your apple.
7. Color the next section with a new cotton swab using the same technique, and going over the place where two colors meet a few times to gently blend them.
8. Rub away color from areas where you don't want it with a kneaded eraser before it dries. You can mold the eraser like clay, shaping it into a point to get into fine areas.
9. Tear off a piece of cotton and wrap it with your fingertips around the tip of a sharp, pointy skewer. Keep the tip of the cotton pointed. Use this for coloring small areas.
10. Carefully pull up the tape, only handling the unpainted edges of the photo. Place it in a box, or on a tray and cover it with an inverted container so nothing will touch it and no dust will fall on it. It can take about a week to dry, though a lot will depend on how thick the paint is, the type of paint you use or the humidity.
