Paper and Pt/Pd printing

Richard Sullivan (richsul@roadrunner.com)
Mon, 12 Aug 1996 16:42:41 -0600

>I've heard that platinotype paper has changed character over the years as
>dictated by environmental regulations. Is this true ? I am using the paper for
>Pt, Pd Printing and do not seem to be able to get the rich subtle brown tones
>that for example Dick Arentz is able to get on the supply of paper that he
>purchased years ago.

I too have a small stock of Cranes Articifial Parchment from circa 1982, and
yes it is nice....but.....

Good prints, and I mean GOOD, can be made on virtually any good paper. For
about 13 years Bostick & Sullivan have been hosting our Platypus Parties, we
just had our first one here in Santa Fe at the end of May. We usually have
25 to 50 printers show up with prints. One year we had one printer fly in
from Puerto Rico and another flew in from Seattle, so we get a good cross
section of pt printers. It would never fail to amaze me to hear someone say
that one could not make good prints on Gallery 100, and then have a chorus
of amens. It would then follow that someone would pull out a portfolio of
prints made on the very same paper and knock everyone's eyes out. I think
John Rudiak can back me up on this particlular example. Eh John? Each paper
needs to be handled in a different manner. Since each person does things a
little differently anyway, the challenge is to get in tune with the paper.
It ain't always easy.

Stunning prints are made on current production run papers. Kenro Izu and
Luis Spitalnick (sp?) are just two persons who come to mind as making near,
if not absolutely, perfect, prints on modern paper. The devil of it is, is
that paper companies are constantly changing the composition of their papers
and this may require mid course corrections. Most art media only physically
interact with the paper, absorbtivity being the major one. I once bought a
"bad" batch of Arches from MacManus & Morgan in LA. I took it back and
complained. The manager drew on a sheet with a felt tip pen and declared
that nothing was wrong with it, and in a sense he was right. They swapped
for a new batch anyway, though with a few raised eyebrows.

Yeah, it's all a pain in the backside, but when it works.. Wow! I guess the
pain is what makes it a real art and craft. Handcoated Pt is not Polaroid
and the challange and rewards of handcoating is why I never got too excited
about making precoated paper. There is a lot of "Hey man, look at what I
just did!" to all of the alt-photo processes, that you don't get from a box
of Elite.

Dick S.

Bostick & Sullivan
1541 Center Dr.
Santa Fe, New Mexico
87505