Re: cyanotype question

[Judy Seigel <jseigel@panix.com>]

On Sat, 13 Dec 2008, Christina Z. Anderson wrote:

> Loris,
> I think alt is full of contradictions, and especially cyanotype, because of 
> paper and humidity.  When I lived in the South everything went so smoothly, 
> but two things bugged me:  how long it took the paper to not feel "limp", and 
> how more quickly dark reaction set in to a gum layer.
This reminds me that when the list was speculating on Diana's problems 
with sizing in the very cold, I meant to mention a variable I'd found that 
doesn't get much mention in coating gum -- HEAT and HUMIDITY (especially 
humidity).

That is, I found that the time between coating and exposure in conditions 
of high heat/humidity, ie., the wait to print, was a VERY big variable-- 
at least as important as exposure itself.  On hot/humid days, any wait to 
print longer than 15 minutes could totally fog the print, and/or stain it, 
also possibly overexpose.

I wondered if it couldn't work the other way around.... that very cold 
conditions could tamp everything down. ?

I suppose every serious printer these days has a temperature/humdity 
controlled studio (like Steven Livick), but mention it anyway. (My studio 
has 13 foot ceilings and the electricity bill from hell).

J.