>Because, though the GOOD news is that gum is infinitely seductive,
>variable, enchanting, ineffable, bewitching & generally all-around
>magical (having focussed on it for several months, I can't imagine going
>back to plain old PREDICTABLE mysteries like kallitype!), the BAD news is
>that the questions you asked in your earlier note have very few
>answers. This is a process in which EVERY variable affects every other
>variable, and I know less about it today than I did yesterday. (I mean
>that literally; I did some tests this AM which disabused me of certain
>gum "truths"!)
Judy, what were those "truths" that came tumbling down?
>That said, I can give you some general suggestions:
>
>First, and this is one of the few absolutes I'll commit to: The
>best paper for a beginner (and many advanced printers stick with it) is
>Rives BFK. With the right pigment you can give a coat or two without size
>(though if you want to re-register you have to pre-shrink, and sizing is
>not that much more trouble, though you have to get the formaldehyde.
>Gelatine-size plus formaldehyde gives about as good a pre-shrink as you
>can get -- contrary to printed info, I find, which always says shrink first.)
Alright, that sounds easy enough. I actually have some BFK around here that
I sized and hardened a few days ago. I'll try it out soon. Also, do you
size the paper once or twice before you use it? Do you harden it once or
twice? Also- how long does a hardening bath last? Is it best to mix up
the hardening bath in a small quantity and paint it on, or mix up a liter
and re-use it? I believe I compounded my hardener 20ml Formaldehyde to 1000ml
water.
>Second -- the REALLY bad news is that EVERY pigment behaves differently.
>And differently on different paper. And in different weather. Oh, and
>also differently from different manufacturers.
Ouch!
>You asked me, as I recall, about a nice lamp black. If you find one, let
>me know. I've been reading Puyo (with dictionary) -- it's what he used,
>in fact all the ancients used lamp black. I'd been printing purple &
>majenta & poison green but suddenly felt ready for lamp black. Well, guess
>what!
>Neither Rowney lamp black nor Winsor Newton lamp black cleared at all on the
>5 or 6 papers I tried. (Anyone out there know a good lamp black?) Ivory
>black was much weaker, & also didn't clear very well.
Well, that sounds like a problem that I encountered. I'll have to try another
>That dabs-of-paint-pigment-gum-ratio test is, as you
>suspected, an absolute waste of time -- unless you do it for each
>size/layer/times-in-the-water combination for each paper
I had a feeling there were too many variables going on in this process to have
such a nice "test" to use. I think I'll steer away from this for awhile.
Thanks for the info.
I dried the paper in the dark without the help of any active measures. I
also let them set a little too long probably. I began printing a couple
of hours after they were dry. And it was HOT in the room, and humid. More
factors... I'll try out a fan next time.
>If step wedge didn't clear, it's your paper, pigment,
>lack of proper humility or sufficient pride.
:) I agree.
>Also, why are you mixing so much emulsion at one time? Once mixed, it
>won't keep more than an hour -- if that
>long. A total of 40 drops (20 drops to a cc) is plenty for an 8x10 print.
>(Which is to say, it sounds like you're using unnecessary amounts of
>bichromate, which is environmentally undesirable, and pigment, which is
>expensive.)
I certainly did mix up too much. I figured the stuff would keep for the night.
And figured that I'd print for 6-8 hours- which I didn't.
>
>> I coated a number of sheets (all with different amounts of sensitizer) and
>> processed them all "automatically" in water around 75 degrees (room temp).
>> None of them even looked close to decent.
>
>> b) with my pigment:gum proportions
>> c) with Winsor & Newton gum arabic (maybe it is not the 14 degrees Baume'
>> as it I though it was)
>>
>This is in fact a possibility
I just bought some new gum solution- and will test it out shortly. I wonder
about that stuff I was using, but have no idea if it (too) was a problem.
>Put your gum & dichromate in separate brown glass (preferably) dropper
>bottles. Get a tube of burnt sienna, a sheet of Rives BFK, squeeze out 1/2
>inch worm, add 2 droppers of gum & mix the paint into it with a smallish
>soft round brush (cheap nylon bristles is OK for this which is used only
>for mixing, not for developing where you'd want a fine point to pick out
>highlights. Brush tiny sample of color-in-gum on scrap of paper (smear it with
>finger to see how it fans out, for future reference), add 2 droppers of
>bichromate, stir again, dip in 2 or 3 inch foam brush and spread. Now
>whisk dry (this is hard to describe, I didn't learn it myself very well
>until someone showed me -- maybe we need a video), with a wide cheapo
>chinese brush (the 3 dollar kind, not the 23 dollar kind) lightly, like,
>one of the Frenchmen says "just whisking the dust off a piano" or like that.
>Dry in dark, like I said. Expose.Develop as needed -- from 1/2 hour to 3
>days, face down in still water. Fall in love.
>
>Good luck........Judy
Judy,
Thanks so much for the extremely helpful reply. My expectations had fallen
apart after that first night of printing- I would have gone along changing
one or two variables for years! It seems I need to change more than a few
things in order to get a mildly acceptable print. I'm surprised that BFK
works at all without a size- I've never heard this from anyone else (another
one of those "misinformations" it seems. I'll let you know when a print comes
out. Keep me informed as to your tests and discoveries. I really appreciate
the help :)
Adam