Adam Kimball (akimball@finebrand.com)
Wed, 14 Apr 1999 02:36:55 -0700
Hi all,
Just thought I would pass along a few bits of info that I've learned while
playing with Argyrotypes these last few weeks. I don't have a lot to say at
this point, but can say a little. First some facts.
Having had some problems with a premixed Argyrotype sensitizer, I decided to mix
my own. I purchased the Silver Oxide from Bryant lab, down the street in
Berkeley. I paid $38 for 25 grams which I think is reasonable. They don't keep
it in stock, so you should prepare to wait a week or two for it. The Sulfamic
acid came from Art Craft, and the Ferric Ammonium Citrate from B&S. The major
problem I had was solved by Richard Sullivan. After getting the Silver to
dissolve in the acid, the F.A.C. wouldn't completely dissolve. I searched the
archive and found a message by him from Feb 18, 1997 where he mentions a similar
problem with F.A.C. and Van Dyke (title: Ferric Ammonium Citrate). I called him
up to ask him about this issue, and he thought the addition of some more
Sulfamic Acid would help. I added about .3 grams (for a 50ml solution) and
bang- worked like a charm. Thanks Richard. I did not add Tween to the
sensitizer- Mike Ware advises against it for reasons obvious to many of us - it
decomposes in heavily diluted solutions.
As for paper, I obtained Whatman's Watercolor and Printmaking papers from NY
Central. They are reasonably priced, but they have some texture. So far, I've
been unable to get much out of the watercolor paper - the image washes off, but
I'm sure this can be worked out with the wetting agent. The printmaking paper
is much better, but glitches still abound. Arches Platine similarly gave me
grief - image washes out or appears sunken. I just need to find out the proper
Tween dilution. So far, Cranes Crest Wove is doing very well. I have many more
papers that I'd like to try, we'll see if I get to them. I am finding that 1
drop of 5%-10% Tween to 20 drops of sensitizer is a good place to begin. Any
less and the image will almost certainly wash out while "developing".
Tonight I toned the prints in the Thiourea-Gold toner that I've used for
Kallitypes. Tonights prints were on Crane's Crest, dried by warm forced air
(i.e. low % rh). After about 30 seconds in the toner, a wonderful split-tone
appeared. The highlights were quite neutral and the shadows a rich brown.
Quite dramatic in fact, maybe even too. But well worth playing with to be sure.
Anyway, hope that may help someone out there some day. Sometimes just writing
for the archive is good enough.
Best,
Adam
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Thu Oct 28 1999 - 21:39:31