Betty Hutton Colorized Photos, by Brenda J. Mills
Brenda's grandfather was a
photographer/photographer's assistant to several of the studios in Hollywood
during the late 1930s and early 40s. Two of her cousins (whom she never had the opportunity to meet) were wonderful actresses, Joan and Constance Bennett. Brenda started
collecting a lot of photos of actresses from that period of time due to
influence from her grandfather and her actress cousins. She learned how to develop negatives from
granddad, but Brenda was disappointed that every single photo she came across was in black and white. She had been introduced to a couple of colorists and eventually thought to herself that if she tried, she could colorize too! That's exactly how Brenda got started in colorizing photos.
When Brenda did her very first
set of photos, naturally she stepped back, looked at them and thought,
you're a genius Brenda! (she admits now that they were TRULY HORRIBLE). But it was a beginning, and the good news is that Brenda didn't give up! She continued to compare her photos to those of the colorization artists she had met and
would study how they blended colors and the like; all in an effort to
improve her technique. The photos you see below are the result of Brenda's countless hours of practice to perfect her talent. Brenda still cringes today when she sees her early efforts, but she is proud that her practice has gone a long way to create perfection!
Brenda has shared her artistic abilities with us by colorizing several of the most beautiful vintage photographs of Betty Hutton that we have in our Estate Collection! Thanks Brenda, we are inspired by your talent...
