Terry King notes that he gets better gum results with a gum arabic that's
17 degrees baume. I too have found that a 50% home mixed gum (probably about
17 baume) is often better than the standard lithographers gum 14.
But there is also a commercially prepared gum arabic which is *labeled* 14
degrees baume, that I find best of all: seems to clear better & have
better scale than either of the others with most pigments (except lamp
black). I haven't a clue why, but my tests show it again & again. It is,
by the way, definitely thicker than my other gum-14, and looks a bit
darker. (I heard about it from Jeff in Sweden who heard about it from
Stephen Livick. Hi Jeff, thanks, are you still there?)
I did not find it easy to get, since the company wouldn't sell to me
direct, but I was able to order 4 gallons through my local supplier (about
$16 per gallon), kept 2 & took 2 to school..... I generally add some
distilled water to the mix, which, for all I know brings the gum back down
to "regular" gum-14 viscosity.... But mine is not to reason why....
Graphex Products Division of the RBP Chemical Corporation, 150 South
118th St, PO Box 14069, Milwaukee WI 53214-0069 USA, phone 414/258-0911,
Fax 414/258-7908, For Technical Service, 1/800-558-0747.
100% pure gum arabic solution, 14 degrees baume.
But OK, since you insist, a few lines of theoretical:
Sun, 9 Jun 1996, Jim Spiri wrote:
> Many of the early critics of Pictorialism say photos shouldn't be on matte
> paper, cuz that's the realm of etching, drawing, etc., and that it is used
The next big question is why do we (they) make such a big fuss about a
nick in a photo which is not done for a drawing?
And a motto for marvelling at the silliness of outworn art & photography:
Life is like a school of fish -- all turn at a mysterious command from an
unseen leader & head off en masse in a different direction.
And Oh yeah, Benjamin. There have been a spate of essays lately "proving"
that Benjamin was wrong, but maybe that was Peter's point. (Next week's
topic: the wheel is round.)
Judy