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[linenspistils]

Ecce: I have a new second job, touching up/restoring original Edward Curtis photogravures! FUCKING AWESOME. And my boss is fabulous. We work in her funny little house with her blue bathroom and siamese kitten and big goofy terrier mix puppy. It's a very short-term gig (there are only so many photos), probably two weeks at the outside, but the pay

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retouch Curtis originals?

[anonymous]

I stumbled into this post, and wondered how you retouch an original photo. What type of ink, paint, or whatever do you use. I have some CUrtis photos, and they are just beautiful as is... of course they are in great shape. Just curious.

Re: retouch Curtis originals?

[linenspistils]

Here's the process as shown to me:

Use a high-quality watercolor (mix various umber tones to match the sepia). Dilute it significantly with water. Use a tiny brush, dip it into the solution, then dry the brush slightly--this removes most of the water, so you don't soak your prints--and stipple the surface of the print with the tiny amount of dryish pigment remaining on the brush. Of course this only works to darken too-light areas--like spots where a hair or piece of lint fell onto the plate, and fell off, leaving a white line, or water spots--dark spots aren't correctable with this method. The pigment, when applied, should barely make a difference--better to retouch a spot several times and build up a matching tone than to make a dark, uncorrectable blemish.

Thanks for asking! I feel so lucky that I get to work with these pieces. Hopefully someday I'll own a few myself! I'd love to hear which ones you have.