Re: direct carbon or gum bleach development

[Keith Gerling <keith.gerling@gmail.com>]

Thanks Marek,

Cold here in the midwurst and I'm staying put and making do with what
I have at hand (which does not include Fabriano).  But carbon black is
the same as lamp black, correct?  And I also have some pure graphite,
and both of these stain what I've been using, which include Masa (as
predicted by Loris), gessoed paper and wood, and the flip side of
other gum prints on various papers (which, come to think of it does
include Fabriano, albeit many times immersed in water, so it isn't
like what you have used).

Thanks for the offer.  I'll play around a little more.  The picture
you posted was on unshrunk paper, correct?  What impresses me the most
is not so much the bleaching (without seeing a before-and-after it is
hard to tell what that is) but the intensity, shapness and grain of
the print (resembling, come to think of it, a Ralph Gibson...)  What I
would very much like to do would be to produce duotones by using this
process over a Van Dyke print.  What are your thoughts on that?

Thanks!

Keith

On Jan 2, 2008 8:09 AM, Marek Matusz <marekmatusz@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>  Keith,
>  I have been using carbon black powder from Daniel Smith. Gum bleach
> development requires higher density negative then normal gum. I would say
> something more like palladium negative density would be fine to start with.
> If you can email me a scan of your work I can perhaps troublesoot it.
>  Marek
>
>  > Date: Tue, 1 Jan 2008 19:47:57 -0600
> > From: keith.gerling@gmail.com
> > Subject: Re: direct carbon or gum bleach development
> > To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
>
>
> >
> > Hi Marek,
> >
> > My attempts look atrocious. What kind of pigment are you using for this?
> >
> > thanks!
> >
> > Keith
> >
> > On Dec 20, 2007 4:05 PM, Keith Gerling <keith.gerling@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Awesome, Marek. This is what I want MY prints to look like. Forget
> > > all that multi-coat nonsense.
> > >
> > >
> > > On Dec 20, 2007 2:28 PM, Marek Matusz <marekmatusz@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > All,
> > > > More experimentation with gum printing and bleach development.
> > > >
> > > > I was intrigued by Loris's results with using unsized paper. I thought
> that
> > > > it would give a rather bad stain. My tricolor gum practice certainly
> led me
> > > > to believe this. However on numerous occasions I did observe that
> edges of
> > > > paper that I used which did not have gelatin size gave a darker, more
> > > > uniform black. SO last week I tried to use single sized paper, fresh
> and
> > > > unsized Fabriano Artistico, and a throw away gum print that has been
> soaked
> > > > over and over, but had a reverse side of Fabriano paper quite clean.
> My
> > > > overall conclusion with this set of prints is that I liked unsized
> paper and
> > > > soaked paper best. They gave crispier prints. Perhaps this technique
> likes
> > > > the gum to be tied up with the fiber of the paper and the bleach
> development
> > > > can give clear paper base. So I would advocate use of straight
> watercolor
> > > > paper, no need to size. I have not tried any other brand, but I should
> have
> > > > some at hand and will try next printing session.
> > > >
> > > > I have also experimented some more with pigment density. I had a more
> > > > concentrated carbon stock of 3.75% carbon in 14 baume gum, that is 50%
> more
> > > > then in my last set of experiments. The solutions are left over from
> dozens
> > > > or maybe hundreds of experiments done in the last two years. Once the
> water
> > > > dried out this would result in 3.75/0.27=14% carbon/solid gum mixture
> (I
> > > > assume 14 baume gum is 27%). This is definitely black black. Beautiful
> > > > velvety matte texture of the deep black to take your breath away. Scan
> of
> > > > the print here. This print was made on unsized Fabriano Artistico
> paper
> > > >
> > > >
> http://picasaweb.google.com/marekmatusz1/GumBleachDevelop/photo#5145909559997921266
> > > > The mid tones are a little bit darker on this screen that in reality.
> Maybe
> > > > even the two tones of black on the very edge are visible. Very
> outside, had
> > > > most exposure (I uped the exposure to 6 minutes from last time) and
> next to
> > > > it is somewhat lighter edge from exposure through blank part of
> transparency
> > > > (Pictorico). This is a further illustration of how a fine tonal
> gradation
> > > > can be achieved with this method.
> > > > I have also included an detail of the print scanned at 300 dpi:
> > > >
> > > >
> http://picasaweb.google.com/marekmatusz1/GumBleachDevelop/photo#5145909521343215586
> > > > Happy printing
> > > > Marek
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > ________________________________
> > > > Don't get caught with egg on your face. Play Chicktionary! Check it
> out!
> > >
>
>
> ________________________________
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