Colors (was: gum viscosity)

Gary Nored wrote:
>
>
> I suppose I should ask Sam, but do you suppose that he gets such
> bright colors by keeping the water content down and thereby
> allowing for thicker gum coats, and of course, more pigment in
> each coat?

It's funny about bright colors; it seems like people who want bright
colors often have trouble getting them and then there's my case, where I
wanted anything but bright colors (I was in full retreat from Kodacolor
when I came to gum) and have had to work hard to NOT get bright colors.

 I've been noticing the difference in what these six gums I'm looking at
do with color. Since the color is measured precisely, it's unlikely that
the difference is due to differences in the amount of color. The gum I
loved and lost, the Photographers' Formulary powdered gum, (which I'm
including in the tests as a standard to compare the others to) stands
out in always showing the colors brighter and richer than any of the
others. Since I've only done step wedges with the group of them so far,
it's more noticeable in the margins, and in some cases may be related to
dichromate stain; in some the blues look a bit green in the margins. But
some gums seem to make the color look pale and anemic, as well as
yellowish. So gum may be a place to look for why some people can't get
bright color.
 
In the gallery I've just posted, there are a couple of good examples of
how I've toned down color to suit my purposes. In order to get the soft
pale light of a winter afternoon on the lemons, I printed this with a
paper negative, to soften the color, and then I soaked it for nearly 24
hours to fade and soften the yellow. The skunk cabbage, I printed with a
yellow so pale that all by itself, it didn't even look yellow, more
beige-ish tan. But against the other colors, it pulled itself together
and became exactly the pale butter-yellow I had in mind.

Katharine
Received on Mon Dec 1 21:09:22 2003