Reddit reviews Marshall's Photo Coloring System Hobby Oil Set, for Hand Coloring Black & White and Color Photographs

Hand coloring of photographic prints. Some of those examples are not in the traditional style.

Here is an article, more traditional, especially the last examples, ladies from south Wales.

Here is a get started kit. Also an intro Book. And a better Book.

Marshall's photo oils is the standard. They are translucent. My father was an amateur photographer (actually did many graduation photos), and my mother did the coloring. She was no artist. She did paint by numbers when that was a fad, but the hand coloring predated that. I have, packed away, some fall foliage portraits they did. I will look for them tomorrow. My memory is that each leaf was colored, like a bowl of kix. She was completely self taught. I tried my hand at it, but did not have the patience. My darkroom skills went beyond my father's, but I could not match her coloring skills. For an artist, it should be easy.

It has to be done on matte surface paper, for a tooth to take the color. The classical technique was perfected before color photography was common. It is very "life like". More modern techniques look like Photoshop efforts. A style that came and went was to do one element in the photo.

The whole process hinges on good B&W photographs on matte surface. For a home hobbyist with darkroom, cheap and easy. To have it done commercially, custom B&W is expensive.

Not knowing your skill level, or ambitions, you may want to explore Photo Shop option

I suppose in this I am a purist. Comparing PS examples to the real deal is like comparing Grandma's chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven, to opening a bag of chips-ahoy. Not the same experience at all. Still, interesting, and satisfying on a certain level, but not the same.

I almost forgot about Wallace Nutting. He started a cottage business, sold hand colored prints door to door. He became so successful he had to have a staff do the coloring. The prints are collectable, he had signed his own work, more valuable of course. He is very much in the traditional style. About 25years ago I was frequenting antique shops, would see his prints, generally in the $75-$300 range. A lot of variables, size, framing, quality of work, subject matter. Some 3x5 examples of certain subjects and colors were very expensive. A very interesting art form.