[Alt-photo] Re: casein prints

[Christina Anderson]

Hi Loris, Diana, Matti, and Graham all in one post, so long post, beware!

Loris, I have printed on Yupo and it was fine with casein, very tenacious, but these are all on Artistico.

All of this series are 8x8. I've printed this series large in the past, 12x16 in 20x24 frames, the ones from the 35mm slides. These images are from 2 1/4 negatives. I have been in the mood to be quieter and smaller with my work and framing lately, for aesthetic and personal reasons but also for space and cost reasons. I have also switched from my two usual frames, a black wood Tribeca or a metal Old World Pewter. These are all 8x8 framed in 13x13 mats and natural wood (maple) frames that have a very quiet presence. I am also framing them without the brush strokes showing, so all in all they are more contemporary in feel. They can be gridded, for instance, very easily. The benefit to small is I was able to fit 10 of these framed images in a small enough box to carry! So shipping to shows will be a huge savings. But that wasn't my reasoning for going this route, it was a desire to be more visually intimate with my work. Oddly enough, they seem big in person, at 8x8. 

I am just loving the very simple, clean, maple frames. They cost me more inch by inch but they are worth it! The frame has a 1/2" front and is about 3/4 or 1" deep. I think. I am not near them right now.

Diana, the slides are in tough shape, lots of mold. The negatives have survived better for some reason, I don't know why. My parents left them all in a big jumbled box in an unheated cabin through minus 30F to 95F for decades. Why take so many pictures and not care about their outcome, I wonder?

Matti and Graham, when I first started casein it was terrible, because I came at it thinking it was just like gum. When I started over, calibrated my negatives to casein, figured out correct times of exposure and hot water development, it all worked. I could not believe that exposures could be so brief when I read Guido Ceuppens' posts from years ago, but they are.

My layers are very thin. I use less than 1/2 tsp coating solution for an 8x8. Then I brush and brush until dry. If I leave it without brushing it hardens into very visible brush strokes. My negatives are very dull and dark. My exposures are 1 minute. I could even get by with 30 seconds! My development water is quite warm. I spray liberally, especially the first layer, otherwise I find I have misjudged what is developed and get too low contrast a picture. I spray right after the dichromate has all leached out. But with casein, I can spray at the end of development and all throughout because it is not tender like gum. It is very hardy and stubborn, even with such brief exposures. I almost feel it is an on/off proposition and Mark Nelson suggested trying bitmap negs for that reason. However, I use regular continuous tone negs. Printed 126 so far! (RGBs). Heck Peter Blackburn uses paper negs and no curves and gets glorious prints!

I do not experience flaking but I don't roller it anymore. When I first started I got lots of flaking but I was scrubbing the print with a sponge to remove the stuff! Now I use spray but mainly automatic development, with some brush-off work with teeny brushes when I want to take color off an area or brighten something up.

I have as of late been doing a new way of layering: first the blue, then magenta to get a purple look and make sure the contrast is correct. Then the color balance comes with the yellow layer. All of the prints are at least 4 layers of casein, up to 6. I usually do the tricolor first, and then come back and color correct with either one or two layers. Often, for instance, I'll need another magenta and then a final blue to tone down the magenta.

Matti, my secret is this: do it over and over to exclusion until you figure it out. The more you do, the more you learn how it works. Slaving away is the real secret :) I would say in the last month I spent close to 300 hr getting this project half-done.That's my only secret because as you must know by now I blab all. AND, if you go here, no need to buy the book: http://stores.photoformulary.com/images/store_version1/07-0106%20Casein%20Printing.pdf

Ok, I think that answers all the comments at length! 

Chris

Christina Z. Anderson
christinaZanderson.com

On May 28, 2013, at 1:10 PM, Loris Medici wrote:

> Dear Christina,
> 
> Very nice (and interesting) work! Once I'm filled with Argyrotype I'll
> return to dichromated processes, with casein. I like idea / fact that it's
> a very quick working process. BTW, have you tried to print it on Yupo? I
> plan to try a trick used by Ultrastable printers; priming the synthetic
> paper with albumen...
> 
> A question: Is there any special reason for smallish (most of them - if not
> all - are 8x8") image sizes?
> 
> Best regards,
> Loris.