Turn Photos into Sketches for Profit

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To turn photos into sketches, you must start with a photo (obviously). A black and white photo with a matte finish works best.
To turn photos into sketches, you must start with a photo (obviously). A black and white photo with a matte finish works best.
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A VanderZwaag photosketch in a frame made of salvaged barn wood.
A VanderZwaag photosketch in a frame made of salvaged barn wood.
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A finished photosketch might look like this.
A finished photosketch might look like this.

For about 54¢, I can convert an everyday black-and-white photo into a $16.00 work of art, and my easy, enjoyable home business doesn’t require any special talent or equipment, either!

In fact, if you can gather together some matte-finish (not glossy!) black-and-white photographs, a lettering pen (and, as an option, a crow quill pen), a jar of waterproof India ink, three developing trays (old cake pans will do), two ounces of tincture of iodine, and a quart of photographic fixer, you’ll be all set to turn photos into sketches yourself!

Sketch in the Photo

To make a photosketch, just ink over all of the gray and black tones in the picture (leave the white areas alone) with India ink. Be neat and careful, and work down from the top of the print to avoid smears. It’s best to just outline some objects, completely blacken in others, and experiment with different types of lines: vertical and horizontal, short and long, and thick and thin. (The lettering pen will make thick, heavy lines, while the crow quill point produces thin,. light marks.) Be sure to “fill in” the picture, because the photographic image will later be bleached away, and only your ink marks will appear in the final photosketch.

Then “Develop” Your Artwork

  • Published on Jan 1, 1979
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