Re: I'm Blue Over My Cyanotype!


Judy Seigel (jseigel@panix.com)
Thu, 22 Jul 1999 16:52:30 -0400 (EDT)


On Thu, 22 Jul 1999, Sam Wang wrote:

> Without going on and on about my blues, I just wanted to bring up the
> fact that Barbara Hewitt of http://www.blueprintables.com has
> debunked in her book some myths about cyanotype, such as not to
> combine A and B solutions till just before you coat. Another one is

But that's not *entirely* true, either, Sam. I tested it as she may have
not -- that is, I combined A & B, stored in brown glass, and made a step
tablet every week. After maybe 6 weeks (I'd have to look it up, this was a
few years ago), the emulsion was dark & grainy, & the prints fogged.

What seems true is rather that you can mix A & B and, *as long as they're
not exposed to light* they will keep for a while.

As I recall, incidentally, this fact or something close to it is in
Keepers of Light.

However Hewitt's book is VERY charming & not expensive ($17 ?) full of
creative ideas for cyanotype or any photo art on fabric. Definitely
recommended. Again (and this from memory, so don't land on me if my wires
are crossed) her book is one of the few to show all hands WEARING GLOVES.

> that coated paper (fabrics) don't keep - they have successfully used
> materials coated 2 years ago with little staining. Some of these
> myths originated from trying to avoid problems caused by bad
> chemicals, I believe: with "good" chemicals, A and B can be mixed and
> not turn blue. Similarly, with the "right" paper, coatings can be
> saved for a long time before exposure. BTW, Blueprintables sell the
> chemicals at the best prices anywhere, about $12 per lb each. They
> also sell precoated fabrics by the yard, in addition to precoated
> paper. Barbara's demo at the Tuscon SPE conference was a real
> inspiration. Their phone number: 1-800-356-0445

cheers,

Judy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Judy Seigel, Editor >
| World Journal of Post-Factory Photography > "HOW-TO and WHY"
| info@post-factory.org >



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