Artistico Unsized?
I'm quite tired from the war I fought to be able to register the negative in order to make multiple layer gum prints on thin (70gsm) Masa paper (null / zero success!) and will switch to 300gsm Fabriano Artistico. (Old version or new Traditional White - if I'm not totally confusing the disctintion.) Do you think it's enough to pre-shrink the paper (using cold - I mean room temperature - water, not hot) for making 3-4 layers of gum? (5 layers at max.) Or, should I definitely size it? I hate the idea of sizing paper, it's messy and slow (I don't have enough drying room for sizing in batches). I always try to use transparent / semi-transparent and non-staining / semi-staining colors. (Schmincke brand - it's the only artist quality watercolour paint I can find in tubes here in Istanbul.) I never got staining on unsized Masa paper - unless few cases where I used an overpigmented emulsion. Is it a good indicator that they won't stain with Artistico too? Yes, I know I should try and see for myself -> but I really want to have a nice gum print by the end of the week (I don't have Sunday for printing -> will be at Istanbul Park for the F1 race) and have little time. So, hearing some experiences would be good. BTW, I use digital negatives calibrated for 2A+1B traditional cyanotype (on Masa Paper) and they work fantastically. I decided to never, never try to calibrate for different colors, dichromate and pigment strengths with gum because: a) I don't have neither time nor patience to achieve this. b) More than one negative per image is too costly to me. (I had to switch to Pictorico since I use HP 9180 for making my negatives and I'm short of Pictorico. Plus, it's bloody expensive compared to Ultrafine.) Thanks in advance, Loris.
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