>Why is sizing the paper simpler than using Tween and letting it sit for a
minute before drying? With the Tween we are getting >good Dmaxes even on
Martin's paper on which he recommends double coating. And resizing Platine?
Yikes!
After a lot of experiment I found that adding wetting agents to the
solution led to uneven coating. . I also tried a wide range of papers to
find that the combination that produced the best results was a 1 % per cent
ossein size on Fabriano Artistico or Saunders Waterford. These papers
produce a good D max from one thin and even coat, made with a hake brush,
with good tonal separation in the highlights and the shadows from negatives
with a density range od around 2.2.
I also found that allowing the solution to soak into the paper leads to
messy highlights. Drying the paper quickly after coating in a stream of
watrm air, to stop the solution sinking in, gives the range and separation
without the muddiness one sees in so many modern platinum prints on gallery
walls.
I am not suggesting that this is the only way to do it. But irt is the
way that works for me at the moment.
>> Even with the traditional developing
>>out platinum, the yellow of the ferric oxalate prevents a very deep
>>exposure of the emulsion. Again any wash off reveals the paper base.
Even the develop out version has a great deal,of self masking.
>>I have never had this happen. And my ferric oxalate is a beautiful
green.
I am sorry if this sounded insufferably smug but the system I worked out
above took a long time and a lot of hard work. It produces prints of great
subtlety of gradation and tonal range. There is nothing particularly
clever about it. It is all very simple.
That is because I hate over complication and unnecessary work.
>Ok. Yellow green, I'm very color blind, I only go on what I've heard.
I like that colour green. It reminds me of linden (lime) trees in the
spring and green chartreuse.
> And of course, I'm not saying everyone has these problems, only us
mortals, Terry. And what I'm referring to is quite subtle. >It may take a
very discerning eye to detect it.
The trouble is that I do not understand what the problem is. What actually
washes off ? and when ? It is difficult to establish just what we are
talking about without prints in front of us. Now if you were coming to the
spring meeting......
>>A gentle brush gently used should avoid this but I tend to avoid papers
>>with such over sensitive surfaces.
>I tend by the nature of my job to inherit other people's problems. I would
avoid those papers, but I had Michael Silver once >printing on the backs of
chewing gum wrappers. (His mentor was John Cage, so what'd you expect.)
Yes but that is all part of the fun. When people ask me if some strange
approach will work, I say ' I don't know, let's give it a go'. I know
you do too.
Terry
Dick Sullivan
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