From: Judy Seigel (jseigel@panix.com)
Date: 08/03/03-11:14:42 PM Z
On Sat, 2 Aug 2003, Christina Z. Anderson wrote:
> ... In fact, I have had to back off
> that amount for many colors, not because of pigment stain, but because the
> color is too brilliant to use at that proportion. That said, I also think
> the stain test a la Anderson etc. has validity and I will do it when I get
> down to SC and start working with this variable--if Sam will let me test and
> not make art :).
Chris, you're doing the White Duchess act -- saying two contradictory
things at the same time -- unless you're saying Anderson is right except
when he's wrong...
> If I remember, Ware said that the hardening of the gum kept the pigment
> successfully suspended above the paper, which hardening was less in the
> highest highlights, of course, and as you found (which I did, too, as I
> mentioned in my posts on lemon juice and gum) that some of your tests
> exhibited the highest highlights with more pigment stain, said stain
> decreasing toward the midtones, and then so on, to illustrate this point.
> I happened to find this result in my step tests only when using lemon juice,
> or acid, so I wonder if the acidity of your gum was a factor when you found
> this result happen occasionally. Certainly I have no quibble with Ware's
> supposing the hardening had an effect on stain.
Chris, I think you're garbling again.
This wasn't about the highlights or midtones in the PRINT, but about the
dense areas ABOVE the top tones in the print.
Say a 21-step test printed steps 3 to 8, then steps 9 & 10 came out quite
clear. That was because, Ware theorized, they had some SLIGHT exposure,
making the emulsion more viscous and hence sinking into the paper less.
As the step guide went up to the very densest steps however, there was
progressively less exposure, hence progressively less viscosity and
progressively more sinking into the paper of the emulsion, hence
progressively more staining.
I found this visible only with some pigment & emulsion mixes, but if you
do a lot of 21-step testing with certain pigments you could come across
it. I found it happened a lot with one particular brand of paint, the now
discontinued Liquitex watercolors.
But it was quite striking -- a reverse step test somewhat fainter above
the "real" step test.
J.
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