Re: black vs. color inks and gum

Katharine,

In a way I found an interesting path I would have like to wonder on but
unfortunately it's a dead end at least considering that I want to do
everthing myself or at least the largest possible part of it.

I came across a book a little while back, almost by accident, at the
library. The title is in french "La couleur du temps, Photographies de
Leonard Misonne" Most if not all of the work presented in this book is made
on Fresson paper which is a proprietary technique. This is why I said it's a
dead end above. But, his work speaks to me in words I can't begin to express
(especially in English) and I'd like very much to be able to do a similar
kind of work.

His work is of the pictoralist mouvement of the early 1900's and I'd like to
find a way to achieve similar results of color richness, of color depth and
of many other intangible that make Fresson a Fresson using a technique that
as a similar potential and caracteristics. I have no intention to even try
to duplicate his work in any way but I certainly would like my work to be as
expressive as his, to develop a similar style and try to achieve similar
colors and texture in my prints. I can certainly dream my print would be
recognized simply by looking at them and exposed everywhere...

Enough dreaming, I know the road ahead may not be as pleasant as in my dream
but I'm sure it will be rewarding at some point. My first investigations
where around the carbon process or variation on the theme as you could say.
The technique seems to offer most of the caracteristics I appreciate in
Misonne's work but it as also some disadvantages, I assume I could say the
same of any technique.

To a certain extent gum prints could suit the bill as well except maybe for
the dynamic range of single gum print which maybe way to low to show the
welt of tonalities that I which for. I have read all of your pages by now
and I think I would need to do multiprints to reach the tonal range I'd like
but I don't yet quite understand how it's done. I think I have lots of
reading to do before I decide on anything, I don't want to close any option
at this time and I'll keep an open mind.

Thanks again for sharing your work with us. I feel like I'm a bit like you
for some stuff especially I wouldn't like to be prisonner of a rigid set of
rules and techniques where there is no room for imagination and having a
good time. Life is so short...

Regards
Yves

----- Original Message -----
From: "Katharine Thayer" <kthayer@pacifier.com>
To: <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2005 6:10 PM
Subject: Re: black vs. color inks and gum

>
> On Nov 15, 2005, at 8:52 AM, Yves Gauvreau wrote:
>
> > Katharine,
> >
> > I went to your site and after reading a few pages and seeing most of
> > your
> > work there which is very impressive at least to my taste. I can say
> > that you
> > kind of confirm the thought that was beginning to form in my mind. Be
> > it gum
> > printing or whatever other tools an artist uses to express him or
> > herself
> > it's the results that count. I think Ansel Adams said it much better
> > then I
> > ever could when he wrote something like this: the negative is like the
> > music
> > sheet and the print is the performance. When you think like that it
> > make a
> > world of difference.
> >
> > I interpret what you said in your overview page to be very similar in
> > essence to what Adams said. I could go on and elaborate on this topic
> > but
> > I've learned it is futile to try convincing someone who thinks
> > technique is
> > everything, which is not your case obviously. I confess that I forget
> > this
> > much to often but I forgive myself most of the times.
> >
> > Thanks for sharing your work and your thoughts with us.
> >
>
> Yves,
> You're most welcome, and thanks for the note. Yes, for me technique
> isn't an end in itself but only a path to the goal, and in gum there
> are many paths to many goals. Good luck on finding your path, whether
> it's gum or carbon or whatever,
> Katharine
Received on Wed Nov 16 04:20:15 2005