Re: Gum Tri-Color Yellow

Hi all,
     I'm out of town and not real connected to a computer here, so probably
missed some of the tricolor posts. Plus I have to use this crummy small
laptop keyboard. But, for whatever it is worth:
     I've used all kinds of magentas/reds and they seem to
work....quinacridone magenta, anthraquinoid red, bright red, etc. With
tricolor seps which are RGB (not CMYK) the only time I've had problems with
the red layer was when i used bright red (W and N) and it was just
that--BRIGHT. Pretty garish. But then when I want to get a Clemson Tiger
orange in my tricolor, it works great. You can see the reds on two of my
images on Unblinkingeye.com--the Drayton Hall brick wall doorway image, and
the Home Cookin image, the red is visible in the taillights of the car.
Since I am away from my tubes of paint at the moment I can't tell you the
exact colors, except I know it has been Q Magenta by Daniel Smith and any of
the reds by M. Graham and W+N--never the fugitive ones like Alizarin. I
particularly like the anthraquinoid. I don't use cad red much. In other
words, I vary the use of my reds and have not found it a concern.
     However, this is with tricolor seps; printing the same BW neg with
tricolor would probably entail more adjustment.
     I have not found it an exact science; more importantly I find that the
amount of each pigment is my variable to mess with; the color choice is not
as critical.
     Then again, I am not trying to imitate a type C-print, preferring the
imperfections of the gum process and the variability that I get; that is the
charm of the process. In other words, if they are too perfect,
non-photographers see them and do not know they are gums; photographers see
them and wonder why not just print a C-print? Which to me is a valid
question.
     Some of the prints that I did that were very muted and soft were the
ones the faculty liked, ex: the Vanity, Vanity image on Unblinkingeye.com.
I had begun my prints in that style, and one faculty member told me to up my
color/contrast, so I added double the color of each pigment and printed that
way from then on. Then I find that the muted way was seductive to others.
Just like sometimes I get a bit of flaking in a part of the print and I
think it is a failed print, and then a faculty member will say they like
that gritty look (e.g. the garbage bag with the yellow tie on
Unblinkingeye.com; it is gritty on the right side). Bottom line: there are
many ways to get beautiful gums that may not entail perfect color balance,
saturation. But you all already know that, I'm sure you'll tell me...
Chris
Received on Sun Jul 4 10:06:16 2004