Re: Vandyke Variables

Judy Seigel (jseigel@panix.com)
Thu, 18 Jun 1998 23:19:30 -0400 (EDT)

On Thu, 18 Jun 1998, Sam Wang wrote:
> .... My friend Bob Routh
> says that he is convinced that the solution is not light sensitive, and he
> even puts the clear bottle out in bright sun to precipitate whatever silver
> that will settle to the bottom, which allows him to filter it out! He's
> been printing for decades as well.

No need to speculate, test. Here's how Mike Ware tested gum emulsion,
which every book in the known universe says is not light sensitive when
wet. He put a sheet of saran wrap (or whatever they call saran wrap in
Buxton) between the negative and the wet emulsion and exposed. It was
light sensitive.

I had tested VDB emulsion the same way years ago. It was light sensitive,
in fact printed a very interesting black. But because it was messy and
began to dry partway through, so that the results were very uneven, and I
wasn't into uneven effects at the time, I didn't pursue it.

As for putting the clear bottle in the bright sun --- we don't know what
rays the glass filtered out, and in any event, I suspect the light would
only penetrate the outer layer, so whatever "findings" on that seem hard
to generalize from.

Judy