From: Joachim (joachim@microdsi.net)
Date: 12/11/01-01:57:57 PM Z
Thank you for showing that delectable print. I have never had a clear
understanding of the difference between Van Dyke and kallitype - could you
explain? Thank you. Joachim
-----Original Message-----
From: Keith Gerling [mailto:keithgerling@att.net]
Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2001 12:06 PM
To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
Subject: RE: Van Dyke & Gum
The clearing issue has not always been a problem - it seems to have cropped
up in the last eight weeks. I've attached an example made earlier this
year. Not the one I mentioned (scanning large works is a problem - this one
is 18x22) but it should serve to demonstrate. The black in this case is a
kallitype for the skeletal range, and then Ivory Black to fill in the
midtones + blue, magenta and yellow. The open window and the edges
demonstrate the resiliency that the silver has against the bleaching effect
of the dichromate. To answer your questions, no I don't use platinum or
palladium for the CMYK prints, and yes I have tried. Maybe if I ever develop
a market for these things, I could afford to do that. But it just seems to
be a shame (and fiscally irresponsible) to cover a large sheet of paper with
precious metals and then flush all but a pittance down the drain. Besides,
in the course of making multiple coat gum prints problems with clearing and
registration, etc. take their toll, causing quite a few to wind up in the
trash. With kallitype (which I prefer over Van Dyke due to the greater
control over tone), the loss in these cases can be easily absorbed. There
doesn't seem to be any true consensus on the permanence issue of kallitype
and Van Dyke brown. Judy reports that a kallitype faded, but the facts
behind that seem murky. Meanwhile Dick Sullivan hypothesizes that many old
prints labeled as Platinums might actually be kallitypes. I have had both a
van dyke and a kallitype stapled to the inside of my UV source for two
years. They get zapped for hours on end, with no bad effects. I selenium
tone most of my prints, use wash aids, and wash them in water for hours.
Many galleries do sell kallitypes and Van Dykes, but there are still many
people that doubt the permanence.
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