Smieglitz@aol.com
Mon, 07 Jun 1999 00:30:28 -0400 (EDT)
In a message dated 06/06/1999 3:13:37 PM, jribeiro@greco.com.br wrote:
<<I'd like to give a 3 color (CMY) gum print a try, so which color comes
first?
Does it have an order?>>
It varies. Most yellow pigments, especially those usually suggested (cad.
yellow, etc.) have a great deal of opacity and will obscure lower layers. If
I am going to print a 3-color gum, I will begin with the yellow layer for
this reason.
Some yellows are more transparent. Try Daniel Smith new gamboge.
Some suggested colors such as Winsor blue (pthalo blue) are very staining.
Because of these two problems, I might suggest doing the initial layer as a
cyanotype to get a deep blue layer with clean highlights and then doing
yellow layer(s) above it with the new gamboge. The underlying cyan layer
makes registration by eye a lot easier.
A third problem to deal with is lightfastness (although I have yet to see a
faded gum print.... anyone???). The choice of pigment needs to be balanced
against the factors of staining, transparency, and lightfastness. It seems
the most transparent colors are either fugitive or staining (e.g., in the
reds, rose madder has poor lightfastness and alizarin crimson stains and is
only moderately lightfast).
But if you really worried about all this stuff you'd never make a print. (I
know.) You need to just print some images and adjust as you go along if you
don't like the effects you're getting. The list and the list archive can
probably help if you run into problems.
Have fun.
Joe
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Thu Oct 28 1999 - 21:39:36