[alt-photo] Re: printing on silk

[Diana Bloomfield]

Marek,

I've printed both cyanotype and palladium on silk, and while the cyanotype turned out much better-- I just found the silk, for both processes, just seemed to be very pale-- which offers up a sort of wispy ethereal look, but you have to like and embrace that look, I think, to continue with it.  Both images obviously showed up more distinctly when I put it against a white background, though.  

The silk I used was 100% white silk, which was actually difficult to find.  Many of the supposed silks have something else in them, so they're not 100% silk-- so you have to watch for that-- by reading the fine print.  But I ended up also buying straight unbleached muslin.  I printed only cyanotype on that, and those printed into a dark, distinct sort of cobalt blue and surprisingly rich.  I've just started going back to that again and really like it.  

I prefer the idea of silk, but considering that the wonderful long tonal range of platinum/palladium is part of what makes it so appealing-- well, all that seemed to be lost on silk (for me).  So it seemed an expensive process to lose that in a final image. 

Anyway-- not much help here-- though I do remember that Galina Manikova (do I have that name right?) who used to be on the list-- she made these wonderful large cyanotypes on silk, I believe, and I *think* they were all female nudes-- and so that sort of ethereal look really matched her subject matter.  As I remember, she hung the finished silk images on dowels when exhibited, so they just short of flowed and moved-- it all seemed to work so well.   

But, mainly, I think that you have to really make sure you're working with 100% silk.  It makes a difference.

Diana


On Oct 23, 2012, at 10:29 PM, Marek Matusz wrote:

> 
> 
> I want to print some palladium and cyanotype on silk. I have tried a few silks, but nothing really woked for me for palladium. I got one silk to be pretty decent for cyanotype, but not quite happy. I do recall from some time ago seeing a very nice palladium print on silk in the exchange portfolio. Can anybody help with sepcific silk recommendations? Marek 		 	   		  
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