Judy Seigel (jseigel@panix.com)
Wed, 24 Mar 1999 17:06:21 -0500 (EST)
On Wed, 24 Mar 1999 MMagid3005@aol.com wrote:
> Judy -- Would you please describe your brush method of developing.
> Also, I think I know what a schmendrick is (at least I know one when I
> see one), but goosey isn't in my dictionary. Your 1st two issues are
> terrific. Marty Magid
Ah, Marty, flattery will get you everywhere... And hi Mac + lith lovers
everywhere...
Maybe I spelled it wrong -- does "goose-y" ring a bell? Meaning touchy,
quick to jump, as after a vulgarism, perhaps not universal... But the lith
film is so quick to go into extreme density that agitating with the brush
is a great help... especially in the matter of EDGE BUILD-UP.
If you rock the tray, even alternating directions, you'll still get extra
density at the edges, where the developer hits the film, unless you leave
a wide margin, and I'm not one to waste silver... I like to expose edge to
edge, to get all possible size as well.
Rocking is also a problem if you want a lot of solution, as for Dave
Soemarko's low contrast interpos... Too full to rock. (so, hum a few bars
& I'll sing along!) Mac asks what size is "big"... I'd say that depends on
your particular methods, but surely the brush is much easier for 8x10 or
larger..
As for method -- notice that *I* asked what the fella used for a brush, &
that answer is not yet at hand, but I used a big painters brush, a very
wide bristle brush, and variations of Blanchard brush. I've also used a
wide out-of-date Staticmaster, and so forth, it almost doesn't seem to
matter -- most will shed pretty soon & fall apart after a while, so you
don't want something "good." Students use foam applicators, which also
seem to be fine. You'd think it would scratch the film but doesn't seem
to, even if it touches, which it doesn't have to -- just the motion upsets
the laminar layer enough to agitate, it seems.
The important point in choice of brush I think is for it to be wide, about
3 inches (7-8 cm) I'd say. I have a particular "blanchard brush" on the
drawing board, so to speak, but haven't done it yet. I'm sure there are
some better ideas out there.... My original by the way, was a very wide &
cheap bristle brush left from acrylic painting. It wasn't being used any
more & so was expendable...
I just hold it upright in the developer, slightly above the film
supposedly, but that doesn't seem critical, work my way back & forth in
one direction (top to bottom of tray) then the other (left to right of
tray), varying speed according to desired density.
Be sure to rinse a bit & shake out after each, so you don't get too much
dead developer in the tray....
Improvements, variations, etc., would be welcome...
Judy
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Sat Nov 06 1999 - 10:09:05