From: Judy Seigel (jseigel@panix.com)
Date: 07/19/02-02:20:28 PM Z
On Thu, 18 Jul 2002, Greg Schmitz wrote:
> I may be wrong, but I seem to recall a similar thread sometime ago.
> You might want to check the archives.
Greg, you're not wrong -- (actually I think you were wrong once in 1982,
but don't remember the particulars).
A student of mine did extensive testing of agar as size for gum
printing. It's possible something could have been done to improve it
(incantations, hardeners, heating, chilling, aging, whatever), but in her
several tests, the gum cleared the least I have ever seen and printed with
the ugliest texture.
The ancients (Demachy & co), when they added a size, generally used a
starch, or arrowroot (a form of starch). This tends to impart a grainy
(but pleasant) texture. And I assume there are papers & methods that would
minimize that. However, it is probably not permanent, that is, would tend
to melt away with soakings, so you might need to redo for subsequent
coats.
I recall that Mike Ware tested PVA extensively. The form he was using
didn't give the smooth scale of gelatin -- had a big bump at the top. (And
godknows what they feed their PVAs, not to mention the slaughter.)
You could also try Liquitex gloss medium, diluted 1 to 10 or so in case
you like that. I think it's most promising for digital negs -- that is
where you don't try to get continuous tone without dots. Better yet, try
just hardening the paper -- there's often enough internal/external size to
see you through without any added, at least for a round or two. Tho that
size is almost certainly gelatin ! (Buxton, however, uses PVA/Aquapel.
$10 a sheet at NY Central. I tested Aquapel as size myself, a LOT --
couldn't make it work. The concentration went from too much to too little
without stopping at right. But you, or they, might do better.)
Then again I suppose the non-gelatin folks (aside from not buying prepared
fabrics, or normal pills, or any of the myriad modern products treated
with gelatin) don't buy "artists paper" either, since it tends to be
already sized with gelatin.
However, for even medium-concerned persons, let me recommend the NY Times
op ed piece on CORN in today's (Friday, July 19, 2002) paper -- about the
environmental effects of growing all that nice vegetarian, non-animal corn
(X gallons of fertilizer and fossil fuels to grow 1 bushel of corn) not to
mention dietary effects from corn's takeover of the sweetener trade.
And as if that weren't enough for one day, I pick up latest copy of "The
Onion" and read, "Anti-Spam Legislation Opposed by Powerful
Penis-Enlargement Lobby." There's gelatin in Spam, you know. What a
world.
best,
Judy
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