Judy Seigel (jseigel@panix.com)
Wed, 28 Jul 1999 03:35:07 -0400 (EDT)
On Tue, 27 Jul 1999, Gwen Walstrand wrote:
> I've seen several list postings regarding different toners for cyanotype to
> acheive a variety of colors, none of which produced exactly what I'd like.
> I recently saw some cyanotypes toned in muratic acid (a very dilute
> solution) that produced a blue-black, almost completely neutral image. Has
> anyone tried this or any other toning solution that takes some of the blue
> out?
Muriatic acid is construction-grade hydrochloric -- about the same
strength. I've put cyanotypes in very dilute solutions & not gotten the
color you describe... The blue may be *intensified* however, which could
appear blue-black, depending on the paper, I guess.
I haven't had the troubles described with cyano (nobody can have EVERY
thing, you know), in fact I've found it pretty foolproof... though maybe
I just didn't notice. However, cyanotype is one of the least toxic
processes -- honest. (That's potassium ferricyanide, not cyanide. And the
name is for the blue color, not the ingredients. I know this from reading
Mike Ware's Cyanotype book, which has at last arrived, ta da! Highly
recommended, at least from the first pages.... Don't know if it will
have much practical advice for situations like this, but the history
of the invention is inspiration in itself.... More to follow.)
> One of my colleagues said I should just try platinum. Perhaps I should, but
> the neutral cyanotype sound simpler and cheaper (although quite toxic). Any
> thoughts or advice? Experiments with Van Dyke, and more recently Kallitype
> II, have left me yearning for more consistent results and control. Cliff
> notes anyone?
cheers,
Judy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Judy Seigel, Editor >
| World Journal of Post-Factory Photography > "HOW-TO and WHY"
| info@post-factory.org >
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Thu Oct 28 1999 - 21:40:38