[alt-photo] Re : Re: cyanotype [Triangle]

[ding dangdong]

Hello Loris and all,

In a recent 8-day printing frenzy of cyanotype gumovers and tricolors, (for a show of only 13 prints; ugh!) My two most reliable friends were 'vinaigre d alcool' and my wife's hair dryer. I use the vinegar to pre-acidify full sheets of Fabriano Artistico and 10 sheets of smaller (30 x 30cm) indian handmade paper i found at sennelier here in Paris. Dont know if im doing it right but out of laziness or maybe i read it here sometime ago, i decided to consider the 'preshrinking presoak' done at this stage.  also pour 2 cups of it to 5 liters of water in the development when i desire to keep more of the blues in the scale and omit it when i want more to wash off giving me more latitude for the gum layers. 
In that time span, (May 21 - 28) weather here
 got funky with extreme
 changes, raining hard and humid one day then 30 degrees of glorious sunhsine the following. I wasted three parent sheets at one point in this print run because i can't figure out why im getting very dark violet stain in areas mostly in the highlights. My thoughts were 1) overexposing too much 2) uneven coating 3) contaminated or mistake in my chemical mix 4) fogging 5) humidity.
It was then that i remembered Loris' advice on printing bone dry that i used the hair dryer and went a little more careful in keeping things at a constant. Im working under time (and supplies running short) pressure so you can imagine how relieved i was when the problem went away. Again, I thank the list for the rescue and specially Loris for this one!!!

p.s. For European list members The indian paper i found gave me the deepest blue and very wide tonal range i have experienced with trad cyanotype almost like what i get with cyanotype 2. And bonus is i dont even have to acidify!!! code is 'SP3 2W 3. pochete de papier indien blanc. pur chiffon'. 
link: http://www.magasinsennelier.com/papier/p_monde.html#pinde 

p.s.2 apologies for my pained attempt at writing english. Its not my native language neither French. 

Ding

--- En date de : Jeu 3.6.10, Loris Medici
 <mail at loris.medici.name> a écrit :

De: Loris Medici <mail at loris.medici.name>
Objet: [alt-photo] Re: cyanotype [Triangle]
À: "'The alternative photographic processes mailing list'" <alt-photo-process-list at lists.altphotolist.org>
Date: Jeudi 3 juin 2010, 9h08

My advice would be that you:
Humidify before coating, coat, wait until no surface sheen is visible (3-5
minutes depending on paper and environment), thoroughly force dry with heat
(both front and back sides, until paper's literallty/practically bone dry),
wave the paper few times until it isn't hot anymore (don't overdo it since
it immediately starts to suck moisture from the air and do it in a
consistent manner), quickly put the paper in the printing frame sealing the
back with mylar or similar
 impermeable material and expose. (Naturally, the
exposure times will increase significantly due decreased sensitivity, but
once determined it's very consistent - in every RH levels...)

Regards,
Loris.


-----Original Message-----
From: Loris Medici
Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2010 9:59 AM
To: 'The alternative photographic processes mailing list'
Subject: RE: [alt-photo] Re: cyanotype [Triangle]

Diana,

All processes that use FAC are somehow problematic in the department of
getting "in" the paper. You need relaxed (humid - not wet!) paper while
coating, to have the sensitizer effectively soak in the paper. You don't
need damp paper while exposing (if you aren't going for the shortest
possible exposure time, that is...), actually, damp/humid paper during
exposure is a problem with processes that have FAC sensitizer; since
negatives tend to stick to the paper and/or negatives peel the
 topmost
fibers from the paper giving extra grainy / fibrous tones...

Regards,
Loris.


-----Original Message-----
From: alt-photo-process-list-bounces at lists.altphotolist.org On Behalf Of
Diana Bloomfield
Sent: Thursday, June 03, 2010 5:01 AM
To: The alternative photographic processes mailing list
Subject: [alt-photo] Re: cyanotype [Triangle]

Hmm . . . that's so odd.  I really have to humidify my papers (for
cyanotype)-- literally holding both sides of the paper in the steam, until
the paper actually feels somewhat damp, for cyanotype to work for me-- no
matter what paper I use.  Otherwise, the emulsion just comes right off in
the water.  That's why I'm so surprised that  
humidity would be the issue.   Maybe
 it's just weird water up there,  
full of weird toxic stuff. :0

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