In early February, Andy and Ryan Manthey of Pure 7 Studios released their first artist and photographer collaboration of painted photography. The response was fantastic, with hundreds of likes, comments, and shares on both Facebook and Instagram. Although well-loved, their first two examples of painted photography had a limited customer base - being only the Manthey family and the bride and groom. In an effort to appeal to the masses, Andy and Ryan decided to highlight some of the scenes that have made 30A famous. First on their list? Western Lake, Seaside's Coleman pavilion, and the beach. But first, for those who don't know...

Painted photography is certainly not a new artistic medium. What is painted photography? It's similar to hand-coloring, which refers to any method of manually adding color to a black-and-white photograph, generally either to heighten the realism of the photograph or for artistic purposes. It's also known as hand painting or overpainting. This process was most popular in the mid- to late-19th century before the invention of color photography. Artists would apply watercolors, oils, crayons, pastels, and other paints or dyes to the image surface using brushes, fingers, cotton swabs, or airbrushes. While overpainting is not a new artistic expression, our recent "artist and photographer collaboration" is a relatively new concept... or at least it seems that way from my limited online research.

The concept is simple:

Ryan takes an awesome photo.
He has the photo printed on a canvas.
He gives the canvas to Andy.
Andy adds paint to turn the photo into an original piece of art.

Some ideas include but aren't limited to:

sentimental places
vacations
wedding
anniversary
pregnancy
new baby
families
high school senior portraits
pets
family homes
musicians/concerts

Andy plans to have painted photography pieces (such as those featured below) available at his Grayton Beach gallery. But let's say you want a photo of your family. Well, I have great news for you! Pure 7 Studios is offering special discounted portrait pricing for this collaboration! Call (850) 654-6523 and tell Ryan or Erica that you want a piece of painted photography. They'll take good care of you!

Here are the first three painted photography scenes of 30A (Western Lake, Seaside's Coleman pavilion, and the beach):

Painted Photography Featuring Famous 30A Scenes