Re: Seeking Information on 2 problems with Gum process

[Henry Rattle <henry.rattle@ntlworld.com>]

Dear Clair,

I've found the same with cyanotype being too intense as the first coat. You
can lighten it by reducing exposure, but I found it much better to dilute
the coating solution with anything up to six or seven times its own volume
with water. You can hardly see it as you coat it, but the blue is there OK
and you can give it full exposure. Dilute solutions seem to need rather less
exposure than full-strength ones.

Best wishes

Henry


On 30/4/08 10:26, "cadunn" <cadunn@vt2000.com> wrote:

> Marek, Mike, Chris, Diana, Peter --
> 
> Thanks all for the pointers, suggestions, and advice.
> 
> I had investigated Thayer's site and didn't find quinacridone
> rose (which I had already run across) and under pthalo blue it
> says this pigment is not happy with cad. yellow, which is often
> recommended -- Now -- does that statement refer ONLY to mixing
> the two together, or is printing one on top of the other
> affected? After, the last 24 hours of reading, I'm guessing that
> once it's hardened in gum, it doesn't matter. But, then if you
> want to make a green from a blue and yellow, you should find some
> other happier pair.
> 
> I'm esp. grateful to Peter Blackburn for the elegantly simple
> idea of dabbing the paper of use with each color, letting it dry
> and then washing it off to observe the strength of its staining.
> 
> Marek wrote: >>>
> On the other hand if you would start with a standard recipe
> that produces decent prints, the less frusrtation and more joy in
> experimenting you will have. <<<
> 
> Exactly. I am a born fiddler but I know that you need a
> foundation from which to start. That's what I'm looking for here.
> 
> The print I made yesterday using the cyanotype as a first pass
> (Sam Wang) worked wonderfully well -- except the cyanotype was
> too perfect!! i.e. too dark -- so today I'm going to severely
> lighten it and try again.
> 
> Again, thanks to all for all the help.
> 
> Cheers,
> Clair
>