Re: Ruined 3rd tricolor gum print! Grrrr...
Loris, You are right to cut down phthalo. It is an incredibly concentrated pigment. However, I develop it longer if it is too strong and that seems to help. Flaking--your layer is too thick with not enough exposure, but also the base layers beneath have created more of a slippery surface for the final layer to hang onto. Thus you could thin out the final layer and brush it on very carefully. I might thin it with, let's say, 2 di: 1 gum/color. This will make the layer faster because of the increased dichromate and thinner layer but that may help you even more. The thing about gum is it is never a done deal--scrape off the layer and start again. What is ironic is just as you are dealing with this as a problem, I am encouraging it. This latest series of gums I am doing is the least photographic series I have ever done. I am working with old family photographs/glass slides that are wrecked and molded. Thus the images can't get much worse. I am attempting them to look more like silkscreens. Thus, I print two of the same image at once, and one I leave photographic and then one I have been scraping away areas of color and then printing other layers on top. I am REALLY loving it, but then again I won't have any idea of the reception of the prints. People may not like them at all. But I am finding that I am putting the play back into gum printing and embracing mistakes. At the risk of intense criticism, I am including the first image I did of this series in both the non scraped and scraped form. Be kind. BTW all the dust and mold? Like I said, that is imbedded in the glass slide image. Slide is probably about 50 years old. And this slide is actually one of the ones that is in BETTER shape. If you click on the link below you will come to the Family of Origin gallery and at the bottom left are the two images first in the row. http://christinaanderson.visualserver.com/portfolio.cfm?nK=5571&nS=12&nL=1 SO what I am saying to you is that the print that just flaked and looks yukky, if you can't salvage it, scrape and print another layer on top, or at the VERY least do NOT throw it away. Keep it for later because you may realize it is pretty interesting stuff. Chris __________________ Christina Z. Anderson http://christinaZanderson.com/ __________________ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Loris Medici" <mail@loris.medici.name> To: <alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca> Sent: Monday, September 22, 2008 7:34 AM Subject: Ruined 3rd tricolor gum print! Grrrr... Hi all,
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