Faded Memories

[andrewb2012 Profile]

Here is an old pen & ink drawing of mine from (I think) 1981 of a back street in Kelso, The Borders, Scotland - almost gone - faded in the light. Thought I would see what could be achieved using SPE to save it. Not sure if it was worth saving though!

Original Faded Image.jpg (273.53 KiB) Viewed 6667 times

SPE Treatment (1).jpg (357.04 KiB) Viewed 6667 times

SPE Treatment (2).jpg (419.31 KiB) Viewed 6667 times

[andrewb2012 Profile]

SPE Treatment (3).jpg (405.81 KiB) Viewed 6666 times

SPE Treatment (4).jpg (417.24 KiB) Viewed 6666 times

SPE Treatment (5).jpg (389.7 KiB) Viewed 6666 times

[andrewb2012 Profile]

SPE Treatment (6).jpg (365.17 KiB) Viewed 6666 times

SPE Treatment (7).jpg (325.2 KiB) Viewed 6666 times

SPE Treatment (8).jpg (347.37 KiB) Viewed 6666 times

I quite like the image 'SPE Treatment (7).jpg' myself - it is quite quirky

[william b. grice Profile]

Nice illustration I like all, but #7 the 3D effect or out of register works well too. Thank you for sharing

[andrewb2012 Profile]

Hi William,

Thanks for your kind comments.

Kid regards,

Andrew

[eadams Profile]

They are all beautiful. I like version 3 and the framed version 8 the best of all the treatments.

BUT

If I understand the first post in this thread correctly, the original was a hand-made drawing. If this is the case, I do have reservations about adding any effects to it at all other than to recover the faded detail. The special characteristic of a drawing is that it is done by an artist's hand, and by adding effects to it, this hand-made quality is destroyed. The result is a beautiful-looking piece of art, but there is no way to tell whether it derived from a drawing or a photo. For this reason, I like the original faded drawing the best.

[andrewb2012 Profile]

Hi Eve,

My initial wish was to try to restore the faded detail only, but alas this did not work. I therefore tried to embolden the outlines, but in so doing lost the ink washes. I gave up trying to restore the image and decided to play with the 'outlines' version. However, Eve, I still have the original pen & ink drawing which I made in situ, not from a photo or anything else, but from doing it from the actual viewpoint shown in the work in, as I remember it, a nice summer's evening in my then home town. Maybe a professional restorer could bring the original back to life or stop it further degrading, but it was just a sketch and, in my opinion, not worth the expense. I just came across it in the loft, and I thought I could bring it back to life, but couldn't.

Most pictures that I have in my house are original hand painted watercolours which I prefer over digitally created watercolour images (please excuse the 'u' in watercolours, but that is how we spell it in Scotland and the UK).

I principle, I agree with your reservations - I do not think that the digital results improve on the original excepting for image 7 (the one with the 'double image' effect that I love). It was just meant to be a bit of FUN.

NOTE: No original imaged was damaged in the making of these digital variations.

Nice to hear from you as usual. See our dear friend Arwin is back among us again. Hope he continues to post some of his work.

Cheers,

Andrew

[eadams Profile]

Hi Andrew!

Yes, isn't it great to see Arwin again?


I love your original sketch simply with more contrast added, and the detail comes out well.

Andrewb sketch with contrast.jpg (1023.16 KiB) Viewed 6630 times

[andrewb2012 Profile]

Well done you Eve. I tried a different approach which attempted to embolden the linework whilst keeping the washes soft and gentle, in your version the higher contrast makes the washes a bit harsh for my liking, but it is a good way of saving faded images. I tried making a line drawing to superimpose over the original using the composite feature, but I wasn't successful. Because of my initial thinking I never even thought of simply increasing contrast - must try and remember this for the future - simplest things are often the best.

Cheers,

Anrew

[Arwin Profile]

Thats what I like! just break out of the ordinary!
You can debate if it's okay to play around with handcrafted materials but in the end its the creativity and the end-result that counts in my huble opinion.
I think the original and the digitalized version could exist side by side, its both art! (and fun playing with it! )