Almost everyone has a black and white photo (or two, or three) that makes them feel sentimental emotions, whether it be nostalgia, curiosity, or heart-warming delight.

Maybe it’s a shot of your grandparents on their wedding day, standing gracefully by the altar with flowers and lights twinkling in the background.

Perhaps it’s a photo of you at a dance recital when you were five years old, beaming at the camera as you show off your tap shoes.

Or maybe it’s an old faded print of your hometown from the 1920s, with a horse-drawn buggy making its way down the street past the house you now live in. 

Old black and white photos have a way of bringing about nostalgia for our past, or give us a peek into life before our time.

Beyond antique black and white prints, present-day black and white photos can add a level of simplicity to a photo that can be appreciated by many.

That said, although black and white photos can be wonderful for the reasons listed above, sometimes we want to have the best of both worlds.

At Paint Your Life, we make it possible to transform a black and white photo into a color painting–vibrantly bringing it to life and adding a little “oomph” to the image, whether it be of a person or place.

You may be wondering how it all works.

The process kicks off when you submit a black and white photo and select your medium (oil, watercolor, pastel, or acrylic), size, and framing.

From there, we provide you with a digital mock-up version of the colored painting, which you will need to approve before the artist starts working on the actual painting.

Before you know it, the final portrait is delivered to you at home, ready to be hung on a wall and admired for years to come!

Examples of Black and White Photos to Color Portraits

Often, many of our customers have converted a black and white photo to color because they only had one black and white photo of someone they loved, and they wanted to memorialize him or her in a color painting.

See some unforgettable examples below…

You’ve always remembered the color of your father’s hair or eyes in your mind’s eye–but photos of him in his earlier years were always in black and white.

As with the photo above, our artists can bring out the colorful features of a loved one’s face–enabling you to remember his or her features as they were many years ago!

For some of us, our prom or wedding photos may only exist in black and white form. Allow our artists to transform those photos so you can see the details of your outfits and more! 

Beyond portraits of people and individuals, we can also take black and white prints of beautiful landscapes and add in the color-based detailing–from the blue hue of the water to the emerald tinge of the surrounding trees. 

See the photo below and admire the difference between the two images…

This final portrait below captures the multitude of colors in a stunning sunset–something that the black and white version simply couldn’t do.  

As you’ve read through these examples, you may have a few black and white photos of your own that you’ve realized you’d like to liven up with a bit of color.

Whether you want to see more customer examples or are ready to place an order, browse our galleries now and place your order!