U of S | Mailing List Archive | alt-photo-process-l | RE: Artistico Unsized?

RE: Artistico Unsized?



Dear Judy,

-----Original Message-----
From: Judy Seigel [mailto:jseigel@panix.com] 
Sent: Sunday, August 26, 2007 5:29 AM
To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
Subject: Re: Artistico Unsized?

...

>"Loris, I don't care what anybody says, or how they print, or what they

like, no definitive answer to these questions is possible because (in my

experience of course) no variable can be isolated... every variable can 
affect every other variable, so the answer may lie in what combination
of 
variables you're using -- not to mention, what you like in a print.

The only way to "answer" such questions would be in a variable test, or 
three or five -- do a test strip under the various conditions you
envision 
& see how they look."<

Thanks for reminding. I know all that - maybe I was searching for moral
support; I spent a whole week in order to make a decent gum on Masa and
all my attempts were ruined somehow. I was in a point of throwing up. To
me, that paper is good for one-coats but I couldn't manage to make a
single perfectly registered multilayer print on it... I like Artistico
much -> will remain with this paper in the future.

>"That's not just giving  4 coats on unsized  Artistico, of course, but 
with all other treatment and timing the same... and whoever attempts to 
answer the question in the abstract is living a pipe dream -- 
especially since ambient humidity and temperature are significant 
variables.

I myself found that with my usual materials and methods I never did a 
print without added external sizing that satisfied me.  Maybe I lack 
finesse -- whatever, that was my experience.  I'll add by the way that
my 
tests showed that a long (4-5 hours) soak in room temperature water had 
the same shrink effect as a shorter (half hour) soak in very hot water, 
which I assume to hold across the board, but I didn't check all
variables, 
so that's an assumption."<

My methodology is:

Shrinking:
Cut the paper to 4 equal pieces (15x11" each), put them in room
temperature (is "tepid" the right word for this?) water, shuffle for 10
minutes, hang. I'm not sure if that's enough after reading about others
doing it for at least 30 minutes (or more) in relatively hot water...

Coating:
I mask the borders with tape, coat, smooth, and then blow the surface
with a hairdrier (at semi-hot setting) until it's not tacky (20 - 30
secs)...

Printing:
I put the registration marks on paper right after the first coating
(allowing the paper to expand due humidity of the coating). I also steam
the back of the paper before marking the paper -> that's for allowing
maximum expansion + letting the paper to accumulate enough humidity for
speeding-up exposure (I put a piece of - impermeable - film under the
paper when it's in the printing frame). I hope I will get enough
consistency by doing so...

>"For what it's worth, BTW, I note that long ago Mike Ware decided to
learn 
gum printing, tho he chose a color marked Alizarin Crimson and, rather 
than gum, a particular PVA which I didn't know (and still don't, not 
having used PVA for gum) but might find the name in the file, if 
it matters.  For whatever reason (maybe it was too easy) he seemed to 
give it up soon afterwards, but judging from sample test strips he sent
me 
was pretty close. What I didn't understand at the time & still don't is 
why, given the demanding and exacting tests he was making, he chose a 
non-archival pigment. I thought maybe he just had the tube on hand, and
it 
was "traditional."<

Thanks for transferring this...

Regards,
Loris.