Re: Cyanotype help!

Judy Seigel (jseigel@panix.com)
Fri, 14 Jul 1995 15:11:27 -0400 (EDT)

On Mon, 10 Jul 1995, R Paul Seymour wrote:
> I think this was most likely the problem I used a fairly > light coat, and dried it in much haste with
a hairdryer. Prevously, I had > coated many pages quite heavily, and let
them air dry. I thought they were > ruined because it looked like much of
the treatment had begun to develop > due to the dampness of the paper, so
I tried the opposite extreme. But, > today I decided to go ahead and try
them, and they actually worked >

Thanks for the report. As for the "ruined," cyanotype fogs pretty quickly
after coating in hot, humid conditions (Pasadena in July?), enough to veil
the whites of "fine photography"-type-long scale
photographs. I've found, though, that another coat applied at the last
minute will generally freshen things up -- and, depending on the paper,
can give super-extra dark D-max.

> at another school, and Rives BFK is what I was told to use.

Yes, BFK is widely available & used automatically by, um, let's say
"generalists." It's excellent for gum printing.

In > fact, I am considering trying to use the process on a very large
canvas, > next, for the final project. We shall see... > > Anyway, I

Tell us, when it happens, about your experience with the large canvas --
but beware. A student of mine decided to make a self-portrait on canvas,
lay down on it for the long exposure it required (her test showed 40
minutes) and someone called the police because there was a body in the
courtyard!.

Cheers, Judy