Re: Ruined 3rd tricolor gum print! Grrrr...
Hmm, it looks more like pigment coarseness than paper coarseness to
me, but I'm not going to argue about it; I could be wrong. It's easy
enough to determine, one way or the other, by noticing whether it
lessens as you reduce the pigment load or not; if so, the coarseness
is probably a pigment concentration issue; if not, the coarseness is
probably a paper issue. But if it proves to be a paper issue, if
your paper negative really gives you that much graininess in
printing, I'd suggest using a different paper, unless the graininess
is an effect you especially value.
By the way (not for Loris particularly but for anyone who's
interested) I have a visual here
http://www.pacifier.com/~kthayer/html/tonality.html
(second visual down the page) that illustrates how coarseness/
graininess increases with pigment concentration.
But yes, I think it's a good idea to follow this print through and
see how the layers work together in the final print; that's the key
for tricolor, and the more prints you do, the more you'll understand
about that interaction between the color layers. You're doing great,
carry on. The reason I've commented so much is that I'm interested,
not that I'm trying to drive you crazy or anything.
Katharine
On Sep 22, 2008, at 11:01 PM, Loris Medici wrote:
The coarseness is mostly due to the texture of plain paper negative
but I
agree that cutting back the pigment will improve it somehow since it's
still heavy to my eyes when compared to the yellow and magenta
layers I
did before. Will continue with this one anyway -> just to see what
happens.
Regards,
Loris.
23 Eylül 2008, Salı, 12:50 am tarihinde, Katharine Thayer yazmış:
Loris, I concur that you might do well to cut the pigment back a bit
more (going by the whites of the eyes and by the coarseness of the
texture in the midtones). Reducing the pigment in the same amount of
gum, or using the same amount of pigment and adding more gum, are
essentially the same solution.
Whether it's too dark is hard for me to say without the other colors
(I can't judge the cyan by itself without seeing how it interacts
with the other colors.) Like Henk, my tendency when printing the
cyan first is to print it too dark, so I prefer to print it last
where I can see it as part of the whole rather than as an isolated
standalone print. But as I said before, we all have different ways
of thinking about these things, and if printing the cyan first works
well for you, as it does for Keith, that's what you should do. I'll
be interested to see how the finished print turns out.
Katharine
On Sep 22, 2008, at 1:12 PM, Loris Medici wrote:
Thank you all people! Now I'm getting somewhere; indeed, the
pigment was
too much... I did another test print, see the progress below:
http://www.loris.medici.name/gum/phtalo/
I think I can still cut some more pigment. The result is still too
- not
dark but let say -> low contrast. Of course, one reason of this
is the
fact that I'm using paper negatives -> those give low contrast
because of
the paper's texture. Will make another try (after finishing this
one)
using less dichromate (10% instead of 20%) and slightly more
exposure
(19mins, ~ +1/3 stop) and see what happens. I think I can use
slightly
more contrast in the shadows.
Thank you all again!
I liked much Keith's approach and will continue that way.
Katharine's
explanation about her workflow is also logical and was noted. I
noted
Chris' "dilute the coating solution" suggestion too and may try it
later
according to the current situation...
Please provide your comments about the images above.
Thanks in advance & best regards,
Loris.