Re: outdoor gum demo

[Keith Gerling <keith.gerling@gmail.com>]

Everything Loris says in that last paragraph is true, and we've all been in that kind of situation.

However

1)  When I was making large pictures, I was very cramped in my basement quarters and took the coating and developing procedure outside (I brought the prints inside to expose).  I always did this in the morning, when the working area was shaded by my house.  No problem with drying the coated prints on a clothesline.  This was done on sunny summer days, but in the shade.  (Bugs, birds, cats and dogs were a MAJOR hassle, though)

2) Recently, I was going thru a stack of plywood prints with the chore of re-coating rejects with gesso and I found print that had been coated and exposed several days (4-5?) prior.  I put it into the water with the notion that I would flush out the dichromate and have a useless print only suited for re-cycling.  It developed fine.  No "dark hardening" whatsoever.  Keep in mind that it was in a even stack of other pictures, and not exposed to a lot of air, but certainly time alone did not cause this gum to harden.

If it were my project, I'd skip the tent, stay in the shade and try to keep the drying prints especially well shaded and stack them up until they were ready for exposure.  

Keith

2009/4/15 Loris Medici <mail@loris.medici.name>

Hi Laura, AFAIK dark reaction won't let the pre-coated paper last for more
than a couple of hours w/o negative effects (such as fogging, or even
completely hardening...) that's so true when it's hot and humid. You have
to store the pre-coated papers in desert dry conditions to have a chance -
and I can't tell something about that since I use coated paper pretty
quickly.

I would try to find a yellow tent and to put the coated papers under shade
(a box with an opening at the side, opening facing opposite side of tent's
entrance) until they're enough dry to print or I would blow dry prints
with a hairdryer quickly (always in a yellow tent!)...

But, one thing that would bother me in a similar position would be the
fact that in demonstrations, the more you're out of your standard
procedure, the more you risk to fall in a ridiculous / awkward
situation...

Regards,
Loris.


15 Nisan 2009, Çarþamba, 10:08 pm tarihinde, Laura V yazmýþ:

> Our graphic association is taking part in an arts festival in May. We
> will be working outdoors in various processes, and I got the bright (or
> dumb) idea to make gum prints in a tent, exposing them to sunlight. Has
> anyone ever tried anything like this? Is a tent light-fast enough for
> this? I was thinking I could have sheets of paper already coated in
> gum/pigment mixture and stored in a light-fast box to save having to
> allow them to dry while nobody is allowed to leave the tent! How long
> can you leave coated sheets before exposing? Can I do this the day before?
>
> Any tips appreciated. Thanks!
>
> Laura
>