We'd love to support the Ware process at Bostick & Sullivan but the small
economic base of platinum printers make it difficult for us to stock
multiple versions of these salts. This is double true in light of the fact
that we have found that a large number of people who have tried the Ware
process have not found it to be as consistent as claimed. This is in no
way a slam at the process itself, just that some people cannot achieve the
results they expected.
The LA area platinum printing group, "The Los Angeles League of Platinum
Printers" has almost enmasse been converted to humidifying their paper
prior to coating, then drying, and then rehumidifying before printing with
great success -- just using the ordinary versions of the coating
chemicals.
I have had some initial success with adding a highly absorbent polymer in
minute quantities to the emulsion to aid in its water holding capacity.
(A 1% solution of this weird stuff will hold a spoon straight up in it!)
The theory being that if it's hygroscopicity that is needed, then it's
more efficient to make the standard chemistry water absorbant than to go
to a different chemistry. If this lives up to its initial promise, we will
be adding it to our catalog soon . Ordinary drugstore glycerin will also
achieve similar effects, but care must be taken as it can be dried out of
the paper completely if too much heat is applied to the first drying.
The "Viewcamera" article also eludes to "double coating" as a popular
method of printing. I am not aware of any "first rank" platinum printers
who double coat. Irving Penn does multiple coatings but uses (as I
understand) multiple negatives to achieve the controls he desires. (ig. a
highlight negative, a midtone negative and a shadow negative.) One only
has to look at the work of (in no order) Martin Axon, Kenro Izu, Dick
Arentz, Richard Lohmann, or any other first tier printer to see perfect
tone control in platinum printing.
We definitely need more people like Mike Ware to apply modern principles
to the craft of platinum printing. We have become in some way slaves to
the past.
Dick Sullivan
Bostick & Sullivan