August 2005 Alt-Photo-Process-L: Re: Learning a new process-repl

From: Robert W. Schramm ^lt;schrammrus@hotmail.com>
Date: 08/15/05-08:26:22 PM Z
Message-id: <BAY106-F29B5C129A47060854F88BD0B00@phx.gbl>

Katherine,

It has been my experience that people starting out in alternative
process can be easily discouraged by failure. I was myself discouraged by
attempts to make gum prints but I persevered
because I had already made some good cyanotype, VDB and salt prints thus I
knew that given time
I could work out tyhe problems. I also learned that when I asked gum
printers for specifics what
I got were vague answers. e. g. how much pigment should be mixed with the
gum? I never did
get a specific answer to that one. Of course the answer depends on the color
of the pigment etc,
Cyanotype is fairly specific and if you follow the specific instructions you
get a good print and are
therefore encouraged. You can muck about trying to make a gum print for
weeks an end up
with nothing. Remember he is trying to learn this on his own. It might be a
lot different if there
was an experienced instructor. Anyway, that is my opinion based on my
experience dealing with students.

Bob Schramm

Check out my web page at:

http://www.SchrammStudio.com

<BLOCKQUOTE style='PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #A0C6E5
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size=1>
From: Katharine Thayer <kthayer@pacifier.com> Reply-To:
alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca To:
alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca Subject: Re: Learning a new
process-reply Date: Sun, 14 Aug 2005 22:37:07
+0000 >Robert W. Schramm wrote: > > > Don't let
someone talk > > you into starting with a more difficult process
like gum because there are > > simply more ways to > >
goof up with gum than with cyanotype and more opinions about how to do
gum > > than cyanotype. > > >Ummm.... Bill says
he wants to learn gum printing and asks how best to >start-- is it
feasible to learn it on his own, or should he seek out >classes or
workshops or something? And your answer is, don't let anyone >talk you
into starting with gum? > >Lots of people, even lots of people
on this list, have learned gum >printing on their own without learning
cyanotype first; it's not all >THAT hard. Printing cyanotype might get
him to reliable cyanotype prints >faster, but I don't see how it would
get him to reliable *gum* prints >any faster, and if that's the goal,
why not head straight for it? >Katharine
Thayer </BLOCKQUOTE>
Received on Mon Aug 15 20:26:36 2005

Re: Learning a new process-reply