Re: gum printing color combinations

On Dec 22, 2005, at 8:19 AM, Christina Z. Anderson wrote:

>
> transparent to semi-transparent to semi-opaque to opaque...and the
> manufacturer's designations are iffy...hmmmm...so where are you
> drawing the line in your own practice between semitransparent and
> semiopaque or doesn't it really matter?

No, I think it does matter, to me. I would (and sometimes do) use what
I would call semitransparent pigments in tricolor, but wouldn't use
what I would call semi-opaque pigments for that purpose, because I like
a more transparent tricolor. So maybe for me there are really only two
major divisions: opaque (which includes totally and semi-opaque) and
transparent (which includes totally and semi-transparent). So for me in
my own practice the line is drawn between semi-opaque and
semi-transparent, as I define them. I would choose a semi-opaque
pigment for a monochrome that I wouldn't choose for a tricolor, for
example.

>
> For instance, M Graham PY110 and Maimeri PY139 are the exact color,
> except for a slight opacity to PY139. Exposed, PY139 has a slight
> dullness in comparison to exposed PY110, but you can still see
> clearly through it. It is termed "semi-opaque". In gum practice I
> would call it semi-transparent...

  I don't think I've ever owned PY 139, so I don't know from personal
experience whether I would call it semi-transparent or semi-opaque.
(And I've already made clear that I make my own determinations from how
it prints for me rather than taking the word of a manufacturer or
another rater about what to call the pigment.) But taking your
description that it has a slight dullness to it when printed, I would
probably call it semi-opaque and wouldn't use it for tricolor. It's
all a matter of what kind of look you want in a print. I don't
personally care for that dull "partly cloudy" look that opaque pigments
impart to a tricolor, but, for the gazillionth time, it's purely a
personal preference.

> On the way to the movie store last night I realized that I THINK that
> partly sunny really means mostly cloudy and partly cloudy really means
> mostly sunny.

And to my mind, semi-opaque really means mostly opaque and
semi-transparent really means mostly transparent, which is more
straightforward.

Katharine

>
>> On Dec 20, 2005, at 10:22 AM, Christina Z. Anderson wrote:
>>> I realized that a lot of judgments on pigment (opacity,
>>> transparency, color bias, etc.) aren't as critical in gum because
>>> you dilute the pigment in a gum arabic vehicle.
>> On Dec 21, 2005, at 4:43 PM, Christina Z. Anderson wrote:
>>> I did determine that cadmium red, which I don't use anyway as a
>>> general rule, is not that great. Its opacity makes for a dull final
>>> layer,
>>
>> Like I said, it's a matter of personal preference, how much attention
>> you pay to fine distinctions in transparency/opacity between
>> pigments. But the transparent/opaque distinctions I make between
>> pigments are distinctions that I have personally noticed and made use
>> of in gum printing, so for me at least, the fact that pigments are
>> diluted with gum in gum printing is already taken into account when I
>> make distinctions of transparency/opacity between pigments. But like
>> I've said a million times, I'm not here to impose my preferences on
>> anyone, only to tell you what works for me. Paying attention to this
>> characteristic of pigments works for me. Peace to All, and
>> Season's Greetings to All,
>> Katharine
>>
>>
>>
>
>
Received on Thu Dec 22 12:41:51 2005