Artistic Colorization

Magic colors

Colorizer

Lennie Liverwurst, CODIJY User & Community Member, Australia

Two years ago I came across the work of the Russian artist, Olga Shirinina and , I was stunned by her work.

I did some research and discovered that it was a very serious and well accepted  art form. An art that with the right software could be learnt.

With more research I discovered CODIJY. I purchased CODIJY early this year whilst in Covid lock down here in Australia.

The one thing that I was always drawn to were the framed studio portraits that sat on the tops of mantelpieces and cupboards. Codijy gives me the ability to replicate the colouring of the past so I can work on my old family B/W photos.

Preserving Family

History

I’m an amateur photographer who has always loved  the Art of Photography. I learnt how to restore vintage black and white photographs four years ago as away of preserving our family history for future generations.

Our old family photos are the keys to our past and, they and, the stories attached to them, must be kept safe and passed down for generations to come.

My maternal grand pa, Mr Walter Kennet, is seated in the front row second from right ...

I have the photo in its original frame. It is fading badly and has a lots of foxing deterioration. It took me 3 days just to restore the B/W image. This is only the second detailed photo I have colourized. I find the work not only rewarding but also very relaxing and calming.

Finding Soul in the

Portrait

Artists (and I include we colourizers) build a strong connection with the images that they work on. When you spend so long on a work you become incredibly attached to the person or persons in that work. We give our images life as we slow and meticulously resurrect the faces from the past.

I do some preliminary “surgery”, before  the colourization of an image in CODIJY.

I first import my chosen B/W image into Lightroom, where I will dodge and burn, de-noise, take down/bring up shadows. What ever it takes to get the image where I want it.

After colourization in CODIJY , I then export the image  back into Lightroom.  I like to “soften” all  my images  to take away any hard edges or  sharpness in the photo that I find displeasing.  

Also, it works amazingly on skin tones. It smooths and blends the colours together beautifully. That’s pretty much how I do it

You can't help but build an empathy for a beautiful or interesting face. You get further and further drawn into wondering what their lives were like. Colourizers with great care and thought will find the soul in an image.