[alt-photo] Re: casein image

[Peter Blackburn]

Hi Christina:
 
Judging by your initial images, it appears you are progressing quite lovely, indeed! I don't think I would change anything your are doing—keep going. Of course, it helps that your are bring to bear your vast gum printing experience which will help a great deal as you work with casein. Knowing how to manage the variables and proceed in an orderly fashion are factors which I know are part of your working repertoire. I suspect as you continue with casein, your gum work will improve further and visa versa, like it did for me. They kind of play off each other.
 
Again, how I make casein has little resemblance whatsoever to how you are making yours, but that's OK. It has been my impression there are probably a number of ways to make excellent printing quality casein if one would only take the time to work with it. From the three casein emulsion samples you posted, mine looks like the sample on the far left. However no water, no acid, no preservatives, no blenders are used in my casein. How casein looks can be deceiving. My fresh casein looks exactly the same when it's 12 hours old and four days old—but at four days old it doesn't work anymore. So I toss it out every 48 hours and make it fresh again.
 
Anyway, for those interested, the second part of my casein trilogy will be posted at the altphotog site perhaps as early as tomorrow . . .

Peter J. Blackburn