[alt-photo] Re: casein image

[Christina Anderson]

Peter,
Well I must be ADD too because I didn't see any typos in your letter. Must be reading too fast. I rarely correct my emails, isn't that terrible?

Two, BLOT with a towel, you ain't a kiddin'!! I practically scratched the whole surface during the development and nary a budge. It is incredibly more hardy than gum. I have a lot of grain in the images I have done because I did lots of roller and brush development, harsh, because my curve was not correct and I didn't want to lose the image...if I had done the same type "mechanical" development (as opposed to "automatic" development e.g. letting it sit there) to a gum print it would be hardly there. This is a plus to casein, as long as you expect it. For instance, I use lots of mechanical development with brush work in the gum process but casein is much more resistant to that so I could not depend on the ability to do it with a casein print.

The grain is finer. The flaking is almost nonexistent, but I have never tried a gum layer as equally thin to see if it would be similar, so yes, this will inform my gum work.

I have four students who want to guinea pig casein on Wednesday. The other 14 are sticking with gum.

Interesting about the thickness of your casein.
Chris

Christina Z. Anderson
christinaZanderson.com

On Apr 4, 2011, at 10:21 AM, Peter Blackburn wrote:
> One follow up, Christina— all of the observations you mention are spot on! Hardy development, less exposure time, etc. are among the benefits of casein.
> You can, in most cases, blot the image dry with a nonembossed paper towel or cotton rag which shortens the drying time and helps to prevents edge blooming which can be a problem in gum when the wet image is taking longer to dry. There are more advantages which I'm sure you will discover soon enough.
> I am so sorry for the typos in my previous message—typing too fast, pressed for time, not thinking, not proofing very well. My ADD is showing. I will try to do much better.
> Have a wonderful day everyone!
> Cheers.
> Peter J. Blackburn