Re: gum question
Hi Sam,
Isn't this heat awful? I just went out to see a show a friend was
having at the History Museum here, and it's pretty bad-- one reason
to stay in and print. it must be 100 here, not counting the
humidity. Maybe that's why things are working so well, it's so humid.
Hmm . . . well, I do love this image as is and hate to mess with it.
I did try another image (again, on unsized) and it worked out great,
too. I'll try it on a sized sheet, too, though. Our water is awful
here. I never touch the stuff; I'm one of those awful spoiled people
who buys bottled water (even though we all now know that's from
somebody else's tap, too).
Thanks, Sam. I'll let you know what happens. Usually, its the hell
in a hand-basket scenario for me, but maybe this time will be
different. ;)
Diana
On Jun 7, 2008, at 2:57 PM, sam wang wrote:
Diana,
Good to know someone is printing away in this heat! And good to
hear about such success with gum.
For one coat gum I've always had very smooth results. The roller
obviously helped that even more. I doubt that the use of distilled
water had anything to do with it except to make the mix just the
right consistency coupled with the roller and humidity and the
alignment of stars. As has been said on this list many times there
are just too many variable to definitively say about gum. At least
that's my experience.
Sounds like the Payne's Grey may have a little to contribute to the
smoothness too: a light layer of gum can be so beautiful in that it
hints and not beat the image to death. I made some portraits using
just a light colored clay found around here and it worked great.
If indeed it's the distilled water that made the difference, your
water must be the problem - does it taste funny too? Quoting Mark:
hehehe.
Do let us know how the next colors print. And keep out of the hot sun!
Sam
On Jun 7, 2008, at 1:20 PM, Diana Bloomfield wrote:
I have a question for all you inveterate gum printers out there.
I'm still toiling away here at tri-color gum, and I had a mix that
just seemed too dark and too thick, so I diluted it with distilled
water-- probably too much as it ended up very watery-- but I
spread it out with a roller, and so it was very even-- but also
pretty pale. I printed it, though, and the results were amazing.
I was using a piece of Fabriano that I had not sized-- and I
couldn't believe it. The result was far superior to some layers
I've gotten on a sized piece of Fabriano.
So was this just dumb luck, or is adding distilled water a common
practice? I only did one coat so far, and I like it so much, I'm
gonna dry this and then size it for subsequent coats, but I could
end this print now with this one coat, and I'd be satisfied. It
has detail (well, as detailed as an image from a toy camera
negative can be), not grainy, very smooth, and no staining. I
used Payne's Grey. Anyway, so my question-- is there some
downside to adding distilled water like this on a regular basis,
other than the obvious (somewhat paler layer than it would be
ordinarily, I guess)-- or do people do this all the time and just
not talk about it?
I guess I should have paid attention to all those gum posts in the
past.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Diana
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