Judy Seigel (jseigel@panix.com)
Mon, 07 Jun 1999 02:05:57 -0400 (EDT)
On Mon, 7 Jun 1999 Smieglitz@aol.com wrote:
> Some suggested colors such as Winsor blue (pthalo blue) are very staining.
Joe, I use 3 thalo blues, Winsor Newton thalo blue, Rowney thalo blue, &
Dan'l Smith thalo blue, none of which stain at all, in fact they clear
among the best. The explanation may be that they stain with your
rabbitskin glue size, or possibly with the gum you use --- I've found
staining varies according to the OTHER ingredients, that no pigment just
stains or doesn't stain across the board (or practically no pigment, to my
knowledge, I guess I should add).
HOWEVER,
> 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.
...among those (I know of) using cyanotype for the blue layer, are Sam
Wang, Teresa Van Hatten, and Sarah Van Kueren -- all to stunning effect, a
great graphic strategy all the way around. (P-F #3 now at the printer
where it's ALSO running into some interference, if you could believe, has
an article on Sarah's gum-over-cyanotype pinhole photos).
> 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
Let me suggest Hansa yellow -- also known as arylide yellow (for 1st 1/2
of this century, name Hansa yellow was patent protected in Europe by
German chemical company, I forget which, one of the biggies, but "Hansa"
name was used all along in this country). In any event, recent versions
are quite lightfast and Hansa is a good strong relatively TRANSPARENT
yellow. (Rowney Permanent Yellow is a Hansa, or arylide.)
> 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).
Many alizarins are not even "moderately" lightfast, and lovely as it is,
I'd skip it (though it was the best *clearer* I ever used -- yes, still is
for that matter, when I succumb. In fact as I mentioned in an article
somewhere, before I realized that circumstances alter cases I used it
for ALL my gum tests.... boohoo.)
For tricolor gum, my tests agree with the consensus -- Quinacridone red is
best. It clears well, is transparent, & very close to a real "magenta"
color as in offset CMY. Equally important it has the highest archival
rating. Rowney and Winsor Newton make it, but I'll have to look up to see
what they call it. Daniel Smith however calls it Quinacridone Red. I
recommend their watercolors, clearly named & marked for lightfastness --
and cheaper.
For sheer gorgeousness of intense red, however, I've never seen anything
to equal Carmine. The one labelled "permanent carmine" (I think Rowney) is
one degree less fugitive than the plain "carmine." In fact, it never
fails: any color with "permanent" in the name, is NOT going to be the
highest lightfast rating. EVER.
> Have fun.
mmmmm, just naming the colors is fun...
cheers,
Judy
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