From: Devra Goldberg (smspoll@yahoo.com)
Date: 06/12/03-09:13:14 AM Z
this past semester at school i found myself in the
middle of a concentration on cyanotypes before i knew
how or wherefore. i wound up using digital negatives
after a major error with some kodalith postives in the
darkroom (20 prints too late, i realized i had printed
them with too much contrast to hold up in a negative)
and had decent success. the paper i used (charcoal
paper purchased from the local supply store) had
enough texture, and the negatives were small enough
(~4x5) that i had no issues with resolution or banding
or what have you.
next on my list was gum. i've been working on gum for
two months now and have yet to produce a decent print,
with one possible exception. i don't know if this is
a result of poor sizing, bad paper choice, or
negatives, but i'm at my wit's end. i've seen
properly done prints and i'm enchanted and determined
but by now i am also PISSED OFF. :-)
i started off using potassium dichromate (5ml), gum
arabic (liquid, from photoformulary) (5ml), and ~1in
of winston and newton watercolor pigments on soaked,
but not sized, charcoal paper and got fantastic color
saturation but a lot of staining and, of course, a lot
of shrinking (i also have yet to figure out a good
registration method).
so then i started with different sizings, keeping the
same STEM. first, i used egg white as per jill
enfield's book and had contrast issues. way too much
contrast. ditto for straight up knox gelatine.
i finally discussed this with an old teacher of mine
and he gave me some paper he sized using knox and
formalin (but i'm wary of using formalin or glyoxal).
this paper works beautifully, and it is with this and
a modified STEM formula (christopher james' thinner
formula: 10ml gum, 10ml distilled water, 5ml
dichromate, and ~1in of pigment) that i have had some
luck. i'd still like, however, to master this issue
of sizing.
my next question regards using fixed-out photo paper
as a suppor. i've seen this recommended for gum
printing and also for oil printing and i've been
interested in trying it with temperaprinting because
it seems to elminiate the issue of paper soaking up
the emulsion. when fixed-out photo paper is
recommended (or used), should i try RC or fiber base?
what processes, if any, is it an actual appropriate
support for?
i've seen some discussion in the archives about the
use of digital paper negatives and i've been
intrigued. what, exactly, does this mean? is it
easier than dealing with transparencies? (i'm
anxiously awaiting the arrival of dan burkholder's
book in today's UPS shipment.)
finally, i've been toying with oil printing and
temperaprinting with no luck on either process. has
anyone here used this processes and what kinds of
success have you had?
thanks,
devra
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Calendar - Free online calendar with sync to Outlook(TM).
http://calendar.yahoo.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : 07/09/03-08:31:13 AM Z CST