Hi Diana
Yap it is hot here as well. It must be at least 97 here today with humidity index at 105. Good day to stay indoors and print gums. I have been at it all day today working on a project involving 5-7 different pigments printed from RGB separations for a more brilliant tri-color.
Just out of curiosity how dilute was your gum mix. I have to say I print with dilute gum solutions of 30 cc gum/pigment stock, 30 cc water (Houston tap water is fine for gum) and 10 cc dichromate. That makes gum concentration of 9/70=13% in the final sensitizer. This is what I found by experimenatation to be the best for coating with roller in my humidity/paper combination. I think amount of water in the sensitizer matters, as it allows to humidify the paper prpperly. Fabriano Artistico is a great paper for a monochrome gums and I think lighter colors benefit from it not being sized resulting in a darker, better looking print.
It is only for a tricolor (where keeping the clean highlights is absolutely essential) that you can see the benefits of size well enough.
Happy that your gum adventures are taking you in new directions. Can we see your print?
Years ago I printed this gum landscape in home made payen's grey. I love that print, but could never remake that particular shade of grey. I did not keep adequate notes.
Marek
> Date: Sat, 7 Jun 2008 13:20:48 -0400
> From: dhbloomfield@bellsouth.net
> Subject: gum question
> To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
>
> 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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