Making a photo look and feel like an oil painting - possible?

[kasperbergholt]

Clever people,


I'm working on a project titled Flora Excursoria Hafniensis (https://bergholt.net/flora) where I'd like to transform giclée printed large-format photos into looking like oil paintings from around 1848 - towards the end of the Romantic period.

Perhaps using acid, chlorine, natural or synhetic wax, shellac, other types of varnish, linseed oil, bees' wax, etc.

I think the protective layer of the print needs to be removed gently and if possible non-intrusively to the colour pigments of the print, but a certain blur might be okay and perhaps also add to the illusion.

After that I'm thinking of adding layers of varnish, perhaps some formula that was used in the 1850s.

I've tried having oil paitings made based on digital files in China by companies specialized in copying e.g. some of the big French painters - e.g. Monét. It never turned out very well, sadly.

Looking forward to getting your inputs.

Thanks :)

[xkaes]

One way is to paint a canvas with white oil paint -- in whatever way you want. You could use the enlarged image onto the canvas to place the brush strokes. Then let it fully dry, and coat it with LIQUID EMULSION, or something similar. Then expose it normally under the enlarger and process it. That's only good for B&W, however -- but you could easily add color with transparent watercolors to some or all of the image. It would be more even striking than a normal B&W photo with color added -- which I often do.

I have no idea about the longevity of brushed on emulsions.

[jnantz]

before printing images on canvas people used to do an emulsion peel and glue it to your backing (canvas, board &c ) you might consider making a few prints and seeing if crumpling and then ironing and dry mounting the image ( once it is peeled ) helps add wanted texture before gluing it. I would also suggest printing right onto your canvas and then doing your brush strokes of your top coat on that, it will look ( and work ) better.

[added later]
I am not sure how much of a enlarge or contact print with light sensitive materials your project might be, or what your "alt process" experience might be, but you could always make a series enlarged color separation negatives the size of your final print, and make a color gum print. That's how a project like yours would have been done 100 years ago. You could put the gum over a cyanotype, silver print, or any kind of other image, or use the gum by itself. You will have brush strokes from the application of the gum, pigment and sensitizer &c. Christopher James and Christine Anderson's books detail how this can be done, and they are readily available through AMAzON. Alternativephotography.com also has information if you can't find the books.

[Graham Patterson]

Part of the character of an oil painting is the depth of the paint on the canvas which leads to micro shadows, and how the colours are blended. The only way I can see to do this would be to apply an oil paint varnish, possibly thinned, and maybe dry it with localized hot air to induce some texture. It won't be perfect even then, as the varnish surface is going to be above the colour image, and you won't have the paint texture beneath the varnish.

There is a Photoshop filter to emulate an oil painting (what a surprise). You might try that and then varnish the print.

It is interesting trying to make a 2D rendering appear to be what is essentially a 3D rendering. I'll be intrigued by the final result.

[xkaes]

...apply an oil paint varnish,...

Good idea -- just try clear, unpigmented, oil-paint on a B&W or COLOR print. Makes sense to me. Worth a try.

[Mark Sampson]

When I made high-school senior portraits for a living, the large studio where I worked employed a "portrait artist". This woman used the traditional method of taking a large b/w portrait print, printed lightly on warm-tone matte paper, and painted in the color. The b/w print was used only for rendering the sitter's outline, and the results were surprisingly effective. Even in 1980 that was a seriously old-school technique- of course it pre-dated color film by many years. It was expensive, but she was always busy (at least when I was in the studio). So that's a time-honored method of making a photograph "look and feel like an oil painting"- turn it into one.

[Tin Can]

That explains why my very expensive 8X10 HS "Portrait" looks nothing like me!

And I have the prints to prove it

The 35mm Kodachrome shot in our kitchen same time, no flash

I had a lot of non hippy hair




When I made high-school senior portraits for a living, the large studio where I worked employed a "portrait artist". This woman used the traditional method of taking a large b/w portrait print, printed lightly on warm-tone matte paper, and painted in the color. The b/w print was used only for rendering the sitter's outline, and the results were surprisingly effective. Even in 1980 that was a seriously old-school technique- of course it pre-dated color film by many years. It was expensive, but she was always busy (at least when I was in the studio). So that's a time-honored method of making a photograph "look and feel like an oil painting"- turn it into one.

[kasperbergholt]

One way is to paint a canvas with white oil paint -- in whatever way you want. You could use the enlarged image onto the canvas to place the brush strokes. Then let it fully dry, and coat it with LIQUID EMULSION, or something similar. Then expose it normally under the enlarger and process it. That's only good for B&W, however -- but you could easily add color with transparent watercolors to some or all of the image. It would be more even striking than a normal B&W photo with color added -- which I often do.

I have no idea about the longevity of brushed on emulsions.

Thank you for the inputs, xkaes.

The plan is to work on a giclée print sized 200 x 140 centimeters, so I'm afraid your method doesn't apply for the this use-case. But it would be interesting to try for another project.

Would love to see some of your work & thanks again :)

[kasperbergholt]

before printing images on canvas people used to do an emulsion peel and glue it to your backing (canvas, board &c ) you might consider making a few prints and seeing if crumpling and then ironing and dry mounting the image ( once it is peeled ) helps add wanted texture before gluing it. I would also suggest printing right onto your canvas and then doing your brush strokes of your top coat on that, it will look ( and work ) better.

[added later]
I am not sure how much of a enlarge or contact print with light sensitive materials your project might be, or what your "alt process" experience might be, but you could always make a series enlarged color separation negatives the size of your final print, and make a color gum print. That's how a project like yours would have been done between 100 years ago. You could put the gum over a cyanotype, silver print, or any kind of other image, or use the gum by itself. You will have brush strokes from the application of the gum, pigment and sensitizer &c. Christopher James and Christine Anderson's books detail how this can be done, and they are readily available through AMAzON. Alternativephotography.com also has information if you can't find the books.

Great thoughts, jnantz, thanks! It was exactly suggestions like these I am after. I didn't know the 'The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes', but will try and get it from my local library right away!

[Tin Can]

Alternative photographic processes: A resource manual for the artist, photographer, craftsperson
by Kent E Wade

Just bought used

$6.28 USD shipped

Books are cheap and very low shipping

[jnantz]

Great thoughts, jnantz, thanks! It was exactly suggestions like these I am after. I didn't know the 'The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes', but will try and get it from my local library right away!


good luck!

[kasperbergholt]

Part of the character of an oil painting is the depth of the paint on the canvas which leads to micro shadows, and how the colours are blended. The only way I can see to do this would be to apply an oil paint varnish, possibly thinned, and maybe dry it with localized hot air to induce some texture. It won't be perfect even then, as the varnish surface is going to be above the colour image, and you won't have the paint texture beneath the varnish.

There is a Photoshop filter to emulate an oil painting (what a surprise). You might try that and then varnish the print.

It is interesting trying to make a 2D rendering appear to be what is essentially a 3D rendering. I'll be intrigued by the final result.

Thank you for your reply - the 2D vs 3D is good point. I'm not sure oil-based varnish will stick to the print (which I assume is made with water-based paint), but it's worth a shot.

Yesterday I tried with a test print which I added a bit of chlorine to to try and break the sealing - for about 10 minutes. Then I added som salt and later a bit of very bitter tea and let everything dry in the sun.

Today I've added some raw linseed oil to see if it sticks. If it does, adding oil-based varnish (e.g. dammar varnish) on top should work, I think. And perhaps multiple layers over time. The linseed oil takes around a week to dry up.

[xkaes]

Thank you for the inputs, xkaes.

The plan is to work on a giclée print sized 200 x 140 centimeters, so I'm afraid your method doesn't apply for the this use-case. But it would be interesting to try for another project.

Would love to see some of your work & thanks again :)

This a kinda, sorta what I do with transparent watercolors on B&W prints -- this example (not mine) is WAY over the top for my taste.

242451

[Tin Can]

Today I harvested Goldenrod from my porch

Father hated it and always destroyed it

It is good for many things, as I learned today

My tiny Bees swarmed it

The bright yellow is good for paper dye

Also saw a tiny purple Monarch butterfly, very rare

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53197583630_c7e3c81c2b_b.jpg (https://www.flickr.com/gp/tincancollege/PDUy96D256)Goldenrod (https://www.flickr.com/gp/tincancollege/PDUy96D256) by TIN CAN COLLEGE (https://www.flickr.com/photos/tincancollege/), on Flickr

[kasperbergholt]

Alternative photographic processes: A resource manual for the artist, photographer, craftsperson
by Kent E Wade

Just bought used

$6.28 USD shipped

Books are cheap and very low shipping

Thank you for the recommendation :)

[kasperbergholt]

When I made high-school senior portraits for a living, the large studio where I worked employed a "portrait artist". This woman used the traditional method of taking a large b/w portrait print, printed lightly on warm-tone matte paper, and painted in the color. The b/w print was used only for rendering the sitter's outline, and the results were surprisingly effective. Even in 1980 that was a seriously old-school technique- of course it pre-dated color film by many years. It was expensive, but she was always busy (at least when I was in the studio). So that's a time-honored method of making a photograph "look and feel like an oil painting"- turn it into one.

Interesting approach! Do you know if she used oil-based or water-based paint?

[jnantz]

you can paint on your images using encaustic paints too. it is a mixture of paint and wax that is brushed on.
it might be a trouble free solution that can be done right onto your pigment print without the hassle of learning
how to do liquid emulsion, or a 19th century process. ( its not hard and lots of info on you tube )
I think the starn twins are doing their encaustic work onto of pigment / modern prints but I'm not exactly sure...

Do you know the work of Emil Schildt? He is a photographer from Denmark who used liquid emulsion, made cyanotypes,
did gumoils, bromoils and other things. His work had a painterly quality to it that you might find interesting. The Bromoil process converts a photographic print
into a "matrix" whose surface is "worked" and inks are brushed onto. It is not a digital process ( you can't do this with a glicée print ).
Gene Laughter was a Master of this type of image making https://www.alternativephotography.com/gene-laughter-1932-2017/
I am not sure how rare his videos are but they might be worth looking into. Emil is still around, I am not sure if he is still making them
he used liquid emulsion, so he did not have the problem of hunting around for "the right paper" (not super coated) because he pretty much made his own photo paper with liquid emulsion.

his books sometimes have instructions on how you can do these things on your own
(not the encaustic painting but the other stuff ) .. they are available on BLURB.
( I tried to post a link but it didn't let me just search blurb 's bookstore for Emil Schildt )

[Larry Gebhardt]

Or like https://www.saulleiterfoundation.org/painted-photos

[Tin Can]

Like!

I call his work

Real Art!



Or like https://www.saulleiterfoundation.org/painted-photos

[Pieter]

Please don't.

[Vaughn]

While I must admit that I side with Pieter with this, if this is an actual personal art project, go for it and take it as far as it goes. In which case I suggest the inkjet prints be made on canvas.

I have always liked Holly Roberts' approach. https://hollyrobertsstudio.com/

[Tin Can]

NOT ART

Resurrection

Les Misérables




Please don't.

[jnantz]

Please don't.

why ? they look like fauvist / expressionist images, nothing wrong with that. not really 1840-1850 though...

[Tin Can]

are we only emulators

i daresay EVERY image is different

even machine gun Digi

TIME


why ? they look like fauvist / expressionist images, nothing wrong with that. not really 1840-1850 though...

[Michael Wellman]

Have you seen the work of Kate Breakey? Her first book "Small Deaths" is beautiful, as is all of her work. It very much has the look I think you are looking for. Check her out http://www.katebreakey.com/ixtnz8eb8frre3tl5hv25fk9d096ko

[jnantz]

are we only emulators

i daresay EVERY image is different

even machine gun Digi

TIME

I don't understand why you quoted me and what your statements have to do with my question
(my question was why the OP shouldn't look at what another person who painted his photographic prints did. they look like Fauvist / German Expressionist images / 1870s not 1850s. )

[Mark Sampson]

kasperbergholt, the studio's artist used oil paints. She had been doing that work for decades, based on the look of her workspace (a corner with a large high window). It was a very traditional studio, and a method in use for many decades. I'm sure that oil-painted photo portraits were a common product for portrait studios both in Europe and America for a long time... and may still be in some high-end studios. No doubt such paintings were expensive... and lucrative too.

[kasperbergholt]

you can paint on your images using encaustic paints too. it is a mixture of paint and wax that is brushed on.
it might be a trouble free solution that can be done right onto your pigment print without the hassle of learning
how to do liquid emulsion, or a 19th century process. ( its not hard and lots of info on you tube )
I think the starn twins are doing their encaustic work onto of pigment / modern prints but I'm not exactly sure...

Do you know the work of Emil Schildt? He is a photographer from Denmark who used liquid emulsion, made cyanotypes,
did gumoils, bromoils and other things. His work had a painterly quality to it that you might find interesting. The Bromoil process converts a photographic print
into a "matrix" whose surface is "worked" and inks are brushed onto. It is not a digital process ( you can't do this with a glicée print ).
Gene Laughter was a Master of this type of image making https://www.alternativephotography.com/gene-laughter-1932-2017/
I am not sure how rare his videos are but they might be worth looking into. Emil is still around, I am not sure if he is still making them
he used liquid emulsion, so he did not have the problem of hunting around for "the right paper" (not super coated) because he pretty much made his own photo paper with liquid emulsion.

his books sometimes have instructions on how you can do these things on your own (not the encaustic painting but the other stuff ) .. they are available on BLURB.
( I tried to post a link but it didn't let me just search blurb 's bookstore for Emil Schildt )

Rarely have I gotten so many good inputs in one comment! Hadn't considered encaustic paints as an option - that would be easy to handle, as you suggest - and the surface should be treatble with oil-based varnishes of different kinds, I guess.

I hadn't heard about Emil Schildt till now, but I like his work and will read up on the techniques employed (which are also new to me - there's a lot of new information to process :)

Found this quote by him:

"I hadn't heard of I actually don’t consider myself a photographer, but more an image maker. The methods to achieve an image starts with the camera, but my goal is, to make images – not merely photographs."

I can relate to that.

On last thing - I came across a product called 'Crackling varnish' by Darwi. That's also an option to give a try to emulate an aged outer layer.

Thanks again! :)

[Chuck Pere]

Here's something I saw on artists doing encaustic on photographs: https://plumbottomgallery.com/collections/randy-lee

[jnantz]

Rarely have I gotten so many good inputs in one comment! Hadn't considered encaustic paints as an option - that would be easy to handle, as you suggest - and the surface should be treatble with oil-based varnishes of different kinds, I guess.

I hadn't heard about Emil Schildt till now, but I like his work and will read up on the techniques employed (which are also new to me - there's a lot of new information to process :)
Found this quote by him:
"I hadn't heard of I actually don’t consider myself a photographer, but more an image maker. The methods to achieve an image starts with the camera, but my goal is, to make images – not merely photographs."
I can relate to that.
On last thing - I came across a product called 'Crackling varnish' by Darwi. That's also an option to give a try to emulate an aged outer layer.
Thanks again! :)


pleasure's mine!

I hope you post your final result when it happens, I'd love to see what you end up doing.