the hand coloured photographic print with kate breakey
Beginning in the 19th century the earliest photographs were often tinted with paint, to make them more ‘life-like’. After the advent of color film in the 1950’s this was no longer necessary, so hand-coloring photographs became an interpretive, expressive art form, to making photographs more compelling and unique.
In this workshop, you will be introduced to some digital techniques using Lightroom and Photoshop and output images on a variety of papers. You will be instructed in the application of oil paints, pigments, pencils, and inks or pastels in combination, to extend your photographic image. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination. Kate will inspire you to explore and experiment with a variety of materials and techniques and to find your own creative process.
Photography is a magical process, but the ‘hands on’ aspect of applying pigment is not only fun; it is a meditation on the joy of making something that comes from somewhere within.
This class is limited to 11 participants. Each day will consist of short slide shows, demonstrations, and supervised studio time with lots of individual one-on-one guidance.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
ACCOMMODATION
For those who are not based locally, you may want to consider booking accommodation in Macclesfield or one of the nearby towns. There are plenty of B&Bs and cottages in the area and it would be fun to make a holiday of it!
If you would like some assistance in organising your accommodation please get in touch.
About Kate Breakey
Kate Breakey’s early training as a painter and printmaker makes her regard photographs as a starting point, surfaces to embellish. She paints and draws on them, gilds, and sometimes embroiders her images which are all invariably about her fascination and wonder of the natural world.
She is internationally known for her large-scale, richly hand-colored photographs including her acclaimed series of luminous portraits of birds, flowers and animals in a series called Small Deaths published in 2001 by University of Texas Press. Other monographs include, Painted Light, 2010, a career retrospective that encompasses a quarter century of prolific image making and Slow Light, Published by Etherton Gallery in 201.1 Her collection of photograms, entitled ‘Las Sombras / The Shadows’ was published by University of Texas Press in 2012. This series is a continuation of her lifetime investigation of the natural world which in her own words is ‘brimming with fantastic mysterious beautiful things’.
Born in Australia in 1957, Breakey received her master’s degree from the University of Texas, Austin. Since 1980 her work has appeared in over 120 solo and group exhibitions in the United States, Australia, Japan and France. Her collections include the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, The Australian National Gallery and the San Diego Museum of Photographic Arts, as well as various private collections.
She has resided in Tucson, Arizona for 24 years and regularly teaches workshops nationally and internationally
Learn more about Kate Breakey at www.katebreakey.com
Contact
NOtes from Kate breakey
Dear workshop participants,
Here is some information about your upcoming workshop – a list of what to expect, what will be provided, and what to bring.
My aim is to show you how to apply different types of media to your photographs, and encourage you to experiment with a variety of surfaces and techniques. My goal is to give you a crash course on some of what I have learned in the 40 years I have spent hand-coloring. I want to provide enough basic instruction to get you started on a path and make you want to ‘alter’ your photographs in the future. There will be lots of demonstrations and presentations, but mostly it will be ‘hands-on’ studio time with one-on-one instruction. I hope that it will be inspiring and fun, and you will come away from the experience with new ideas for your work as a ‘mixed media’ artist.
As a traditional photographer, I used to print black-and-white negatives on gelatin-silver photographic paper in the darkroom. I then hand-colored the prints with many layers of transparent oil and pencil. I reluctantly transitioned into digital, but found that whole new world extended the possibilities and was as wondrous and exciting as the magic of the darkroom – different magic. I process my images in Adobe Lightroom and print them from there. I do a small amount of work in Photoshop, using it for adding texture layers. I know some of you are experienced users of Lightroom and Photoshop. If you are not, that’s okay, -this is not a digital workshop, and I am not qualified to teach this anyway. I have learned not to get too ‘hung up ‘on the endlessly complicated and ever-changing digital image processing. As mind -boggling as it now is, to me it’s less satisfying than the physical processes I use to manipulate an image. Use these apps sparingly and I will teach you the basics of post-processing images in preparation to paint on them.
You will need to bring images to the workshop on your laptop, or on a hard drive or thumb drive. You can bring as many images as you wish. We will review them together and decide which images are most suitable for hand-coloring. We will be printing on a variety of papers on a professional printer with archival pigmented ink. I will have an assistant who will manage the printer and output your images for and with you.
If you already have some work that you have printed you are welcome to bring the prints with you so you can start working on them right away. You will also need to bring image files so you can print them at the workshop on the different surfaces provided. There is no point in bringing prints made on an office printer. If you don’t have prints to bring, that’s okay as well.
If you are a wet darkroom devotee and want to hand-color your B&W gelatin silver prints, make sure to print on mat or semi-mat paper. Surfaces that are glossy or satin can be sprayed with a matt spray, but it’s easier not to have to.
MORE INFO WILL BE SENT TO PARTICIPANTS PRIOR TO THE WORKSHOP
Visit Watermark Crossing
74 Venables Street
Maccelsfield, South Australia