16th U.S. President Abe Lincoln, colorized from a photo by Alexander Gardner taken in Feb 1865.

Being the president trying to win and eventually won the U.S. Civil war can hasten the aging process. Here's how a Feb 1865 photo by Alexander Gardner was able to capture a weary Abe Lincoln just a month before his inaugural for his second term as president and just 2 months away from his assassination in April 1865, just 5 days after Gen. Lee's surrender. Colorized in two versions with background liberties.

Colorized Abe Lincoln from a Photo by Mathew Brady

 Something basic for colorization work one can't do without - Abe Lincoln's vintage portrait. There are several online but only a few are large enough to bother colorizing.  Many have already been colorized by seasoned colorists and while the temptation to repeat their works with another shade, I opted for a less commonly colorized pose with only 1 or 2 another colorist doing a good job at it  This is one was taken by a certain Mathew Brady and while the specimen I got leaves much to be desired in terms of detail, it does lend itself to some creative liberties in putting in details that are not in the original vintage photo, as you can see below.