colorization tutorial .

This was based of the tutorial from Worth 1000
http://effects.Worth1000.com/tutorials/161018/161018-yet-another-colorization-tutorial

Basically the goal is to convert a black and white photo into color.

In my example I used Lucille Ball . =)

Unlike the tutorial I did not mess with the levels of the initial photo. I thought the picture was fine just the way it was. The highlights are bright and there is a reasonable amount of contrast.
After this I converted the mode of the picture to CYMK color.

First, I selected all the areas I wanted to color the base color that was a light brown which would be her skin. I excluded her eyes and her lips. After selecting the area I went to Image>>Adjustments>>Curves to change the color channels one by one. In this case I mixed the amounts of yellow and red to make the skin tone.

After I got the color of the skin that I wanted, I decided that I didnt want the background or her hair to be the same color. Using the eraser tool, I just erased the brown layer. 

So instead, I chose to make her hair orange like her hair in real life. And after that I used the Curves option to color the background . 

I then used a paintbrush and the Color & Softlight blending mode to add color with makeup. 

At this point we could be finished. She has her true hair color, makeup, clothes with clothing and a bright background. But then I decided that I wanted to change the color scheme a little bit. So I want to Image>>Adjustments>>Selective Color to get a different feel for the picture. I decided to go really bright because I felt like it and not necessarily  because I wanted to be realistic and true to the time period. 

In the end after a couple of tweeks I eneded up with this final image :

It was fun! Vitameatavegamin!

--Imari