Re: Choosing the best gum to pigment ratio.

From: Christina Z. Anderson ^lt;zphoto@montana.net>
Date: 02/13/06-08:51:13 AM Z
Message-id: <009d01c630ad$741d98d0$0200a8c0@christinsh8zpi>

Paul,
What you ask you will only find out by experience. Each pigment is
differently saturated, and each brand also.

To make things easy, mix a 14/15ml tube of watercolor pigment into 45 ml gum
arabic. Use this as a "stock" solution and at time of use, cut it in half
with gum arabic so that your formula is such:
1 stock: 1 gum: 2 dichromate (I use half strength am di, or 1:water:1 am
di).

You will find with some pigments this is a bit too strong, some a bit too
weak, so then you vary the ratio of stock to plain gum. Forget measuring
peas and worms and grams. Some just squish a little pigment into their gum,
mix it, and see what it looks like brushed out on paper. I prefer to have a
measurable stock that I can always go back to and know exact proportions.

Save yourself a lot of effort and order, let's say, the Winsor Yellow, blue,
and red, or the Maimeri primary yellow, blue, and red, etc. And then a
couple earth tones, brown and black. That should be plenty. Then with some
ammonium dichromate, some gum arabic, a hake brush and SIZED paper you will
have all you need.
chris

----- Original Message -----
From: "paul gega" <pawel_gega@o2.pl>
To: "altphoto" <alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca>
Sent: Monday, February 13, 2006 7:07 AM
Subject: Choosing the best gum to pigment ratio.

> hello
>
> After reading about pigment's attributes at handprint.com
> ( http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/water.html ) i'm totally confused now!
> when i know such on the pigment's attributes i'm asking what is a base
> idea
> in choosing pigment-gum ratio - which of those attributes are most
> important
> in preparing gum solution for achiving the widest and most regular tone
> scale ,in print maded of two , three different pigments, where each of the
> pigments has also different tonal value and opacity, and how to choose the
> ratio with the best effects. Is there any pigment-gum ratio that could be
> named as ideal? - considering of course for particular pigments.
>
> ..by the way I know that is a metaphysical question ;)
>
> best,
> Paul
>
Received on Mon Feb 13 08:56:18 2006

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