Re: gum question

[Diana Bloomfield <dhbloomfield@bellsouth.net>]

Oh, I bet that made for a beautiful portrait.  I guess I didn't know  
clay came in anything but brick red.  That's all I've ever seen.   I  
have, indeed, heard of pregnant women eating clay and dirt-- is that  
only in the South?

This particular image I've been working with today is from a Diana  
camera.  Of course, it's not sharp to begin with, but I was surprised  
at how well it did with that one coat.  I'll take a picture of it and  
post when it dries.  I added a yellow layer (after sizing it after  
that first coat).  I wish I'd left it alone, but the yellow layer  
looks okay.

I did make a few gum images from zone plates.  Most were a  
disappointment--and, as you say, got kind of muddy or mush-like after  
a few layers-- but I'll attach one I really liked.  A few people from  
the list have seen this already.  I really loved it, but my gallery  
owner here saw it and said he was "underwhelmed."  Worse yet, he was  
dismayed because it "didn't look like a photograph."    I don't  
know.  Maybe my standards have gone down, but after a lot of  
failures, this one seemed really successful, in comparison.  I just  
liked the way the colors transitioned so smoothly, and my whites  
stayed white.  Don't know how well this will come across on your  
screen.  I took the photo of the print itself by window light with my  
digital camera, so take it for what it's worth.  It really is pretty  
(in real life)-- or, at least, I like to think it is.  This was with  
your zone plate cap, Sam, on my Canon 5D.  I printed this on sized (w/ 
gelatin and glut for hardener) Fabriano Artistico.

On Jun 7, 2008, at 7:57 PM, sam wang wrote:

> Yes, that was me. A painter friend who made his own oil paints gave  
> me jars of pigments he made from clay around here. I think he had  
> help from the chemistry department, at least in the finer filters.  
> Some of these work beautifully in gum and I thought appropriate to  
> do a portrait of my painter friend with the "local colors".
>
> I think the red clay is mainly used for making bricks. It's the  
> lighter colors that they use for pottery, especially the white  
> Kaolin. No, that's not all it's good for. From the South, haven't  
> you heard of pregnant ladies eating clay?
>
> I've made some gum using gold as well. Actually it's not real gold,  
> just brass or bronze powder. Since gum can hold just about any fine  
> powder, I'm surprised no one has made gum with say powdered pearl.  
> Just think of the the pearly effects on black background! I used to  
> screen print negative images over darker background and the  
> reversal gave it a very different feel. Have not done so in gum yet.
>
> Did you say you are using pinhole images in your gum? My zoneplate  
> gums are mostly failures - subtlety piled on top of subtlety makes  
> mush.
>
> Sam
>
>
> On Jun 7, 2008, at 4:00 PM, Diana Bloomfield wrote:
>
> > I forgot-- yes, I do love the Payne's grey-- so subtle and such a  
> > beautiful blue/grey.  So when you say you used clay, do you mean  
> > red clay from the ground here?  Or are you talking about a store- 
> > bought pigment? I vaguely remember reading about someone using  
> > real clay somewhere for gum prints-- maybe that was you.  There  
> > sure ought to be some useful purpose for all that red clay,  
> > besides making pottery.