Re: Gum woes

> There is not a reason for you to do this. I start out with a much greater
> saturation of color. I mix a 15ml tube of watercolor pigment into a 50ml
> jar of gum arabic, I mean, the total of the two combined is 50ml, so my
gum
> would be 35ml. That is my stock pigment that I use. It is nice and
liquid
> and mixed that way, and therefore I never have to worry about lumps of
tube
> paint in my coating, giving uneven color. Then, at time of use I can vary
> the amount of pigment in my mix by using 1/2 tsp of this stock to 1 1/2
gum,
> or 1 1/2 tsp of this stock to 1/2 gum, always ending up with 2 tsp of the
> two. I know my colors well enough now that I know with some I use a scant
> tsp of the stock pigment, with others a hair over. Or, if I want to make
a
> very monochrome gum, then I really desaturate it. So my only reason is to
> get the correct color intensity and not have uneven pigment mixing.

I too mix a stock pigment solution, though I hadn't thought about adjusting
color intensity by adding more gum. I guess I was worried about getting too
little pigment on the paper since I can't really see if it's too intense.

> Sam and I differ in this one variable; my process I use was taught to me
by
> Sam--he is "da man" if you know what I mean. But I always size my paper
> with brush sizing one side, one or two coats. That way my prints never
> stain. If I get color that does not budge in the highlights, it is only
> because I have not developed it long enough/overexposed it. Because I have
> taken care of this problem with adequate sizing, I can be loosey goosey
with
> the rest of my approach. But, to each his own. By using highly pigmented
> layers I get a full, bright gum print in 3 layers only.

After spending several hours ripping paper, I'll try a few sheets sized both
ways and see which method works better for me before committing them all to
one method. I'll also try it with 2 coats and see how that works; my
original papers only had 1 coat. I assume you pre-shrink your papers before
brush sizing only one side?

Regards, Scott

swphoto@verizon.net
Received on Mon May 9 21:21:58 2005