Staying on the subject of cyanotypes:
Milkweed Wild Flowers.
Niranjan, I love the Sumac’s tones — beautiful!
Nice! Are those flowers pretty small? There are lots of different kinds of milkweed....
Milkweed Wild Flowers.
You know, most people get excited when they can make an image appear on paper. A few of them will go on to perfect the process — produce the greatest range of tones and the acuity that the process permits. But it is the rare printer who gets the process down, AND has the sensibility to marry it to images in ways that enhance the work. I often think of cyanotype more as an introduction to alt processes than as a viable artistic medium in its own right. And when one does impress me, it’s usually because of the printer’s use of tannins to tone the print away from the blue. But you, Patrick, have twice now shown us cyanotypes that embrace the muted scale and blue tones to make unforgettable works. Hat’s off to you.
Staying on the subject of cyanotypes:
Milkweed Wild Flowers.
Classic chemistry on Canson XL -
View attachment 370166
Same as above but toned with 1% Sumac extract for 15 minutes after complete bleaching -
View attachment 370168
:Niranjan.
Stunningly beautiful. For this image, I prefer the original, although I must say the sumac toning has yielded a nice tone as well. Is this the sumac used for culinary purposes as a seasoning? I have plenty of that. Or is it the ornamental Rhus species? I know where to look for those as well.
Very nice Niranjan. Is that the watercolor paper? I’ve had good luck with Canson XL Bristol.
Tom, it's great seeing your new work! We are running a new alt print exchange at the moment, and I wish you (and @KYsailor ) had been a part of it. I hope the spring is springing up in MN.
Thanks a bunch. I too am kind of torn between the two.
I am not sure about what species, but this is an extract of the bark of the Sumac tree, primarily used as a mordant for dyeing textiles. It is one of the so-called "clear tannins" which supposedly impart little or no color to the fabric itself, so I figured it might be a good candidate for cyanotype toning. It does indeed barely darkens the paper itself. There is some discoloration in the border region of the print above but that is mostly related to a hint of blue stain remaining. Also, once the paper is coated with FAC alone even without ferricyanide and any exposure, I found it is hard to remove completely from the paper and hide it from the toner. Iron itself is a mordant for cotton so I suspect some of it stays in. I have tried various clearing processes (citric acid, EDTA, etc) with some success but never complete. That part needs some more work.
Thanks. Yes, it is the 300 gsm watercolor paper. I haven't tried the Bristol paper yet.
:Niranjan
I'll have to give that a try. I use the Smooth Bristol all the time. Best cheap paper that I've tried. Doesn't even need acidifying. I get the 14x17 since that is the size of my contact printer but I almost always cut it down.
How much texture is on the watercolor paper? It doesn't look like much in your examples.
Nice one!Here is another cyanotype on acidified Stonehenge.
I think these are the kind of subjects that the blue suits well.
I'll have to give that a try. I use the Smooth Bristol all the time. Best cheap paper that I've tried. Doesn't even need acidifying. I get the 14x17 since that is the size of my contact printer but I almost always cut it down.
How much texture is on the watercolor paper? It doesn't look like much in your examples.
Patrick - beautiful work, I have never tried Stonehenge... I have had some excellent results with Canson Bristol XL recycled- very deep blue blacks in the shadows. Canson always confuses me with all the types of papers they make - but I agree they are very economical.
View attachment 370451
Dave
one of my platinum kallitypes
The Southeast Center for Photography in Greenville SC is including one of my platinum kallitypes in its June 2024 show, The Nude. The show opens with a reception June 7 from 6 to 8pm — I plan to attend, so stop by if you happen to be near.
View attachment 370915
Really nice gum prints…
Another nice pair, @ced. If I have to choose though, I like the brown one better. Are these coat and expose x times and develop once like Grier does with his Printmaker's Friend?
:Niranjan.
Not quite a print yet, and always debatable whether it's hand "coated" as such, but still:
View attachment 371218
My carbon workflow is really starting to come together (although I'll probably jinx it if I say it like this...) So many little things I've worked out over the past year or so when I switched to DAS replacing dichromate as a sensitizer. I've tested variants of literally every single step and aspect of the process to get where I want to be, and it seems I'm getting very close indeed now.
The image above is a dual transfer after its first transfer (i.e. the warm water development step), so it's on a transparent temporary support; the original Yupo tissue support is underneath to be able to see the image well. The image tone looks much much warmer than the final print will turn out, although seeing it like this, I might give it a go with a warm black pigment as well. The pigment in this one is Kremer XSL black, a very user-friendly dry/powder pigment that disperses itself upon contact with water - neat! Once this gelatin relief is dry, I'll clear it of the sensitizer strain and transfer to gelatin-sized Schut Laurier paper, soak it again and then dry flat by taping it to a mirror.
The print is made from an 8x10" Fomapan 200 negative that I treated to a couple of rounds of chromium intensifier to get the density scale to around 2.5logD or thereabouts. I ended up pre-flashing this tissue and then exposing a bit briefly through the negative to get the delicate tones in the petals to render as I had envisioned them. This is the second try from this negative; the first one is much bolder and harsher. I think this will turn out more to my liking.
This is actually one out of four transfers I did today; the fact that I'm gearing up suggests that things really are starting to work out.
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