copper leaf

That's gorgeous, Awty - the colour certainly augments the image in a really lovely way.
I have some very old Argenta Copper paper which still prints, although does have some fog - the results aren't nearly so pleasing but you've inspired me to delve into the packet again. You've also given me a nudge towards some gold leaf experiments I want to do, so many thanks for a print with so much inspiration!

The polyurethane paint makes the parchment paper more transparent, and it stays that way?? Great idea, this is very cool!

@Molli Thanks Molli, you can get cheap fake leaf from ebay to practice with and I just used watered down PVA glue to stick it down. Once I get a few more things sorted out I will try the real thing.

@NedL So far. Did try Shellac first but that didnt stay wet. Have ordered some low viscosity epoxy resin to try. Should be less shrinkage and clearer.....or maybe not.
Have some tracing paper I will try and a few other options worth experimenting with, including sheet copper from some old boilers I have sitting around. Surprised how well the baking paper went, had to be very careful and support it with rigid plastic board. The actual picture looks better than the scanned effort. How archival? only time will tell.

Thanks! I can't remember exactly what Dan Burkholder used to make vellum transparent, but I remember thinking it was a bit nasty and might not be something I'd want to handle. My wife bought a big package of 9x12 inch "grease resistant" sandwich wrap paper... it's very thin and partly translucent...I've been eyeing it in the kitchen for a couple weeks and thinking of trying it for VDB or cyanotype but the "grease resistant" part made me think it might not hold the coating well. After seeing your print I'm going to try it.... and I'll look for some polyurethane paint. If you make any more I'd love to see the results! I'm sure they are almost impossible to scan or make a good copy photo of. There's also "gold leaf" paint that has bronze powder in it, which maybe could be painted on the back... By the way I agree with Molli, something about the copper & VDB looks great.

@NedL yes steal some grease proof paper.
I used a soft bristle brush to paint on the VDB. 2mls for 8x10. It seems to need less uv exposure than cotton rag paper.
I also tone with very weak gold theo to get a bit more depth. Selenium may help to but keep it weak.
I just tried a sheet of tracing paper and it had small blotch spots, will try and wash a sheet first any suggestions?
I'll try a citric acid soak.
Tracing paper is a little more stronger by the looks.
The epoxy has arrived so I will give that a try in coming days.
Good luck.

I think the gold thiocyanate toner ought to help a lot with permanence.

Just coated some sandwich wrap with cyanotype... it might be "grease resistant" but it sure soaks up the coating liquid, it went right through to the cardboard it was taped to, Next time I'll tape it to plastic. I haven't used tracing papers for VDB yet but I've used two kinds for calotype: canson vidalon vellum ( 100% alpha cellulose, 90gsm ) curls like crazy when it gets wet and not dimensionally stable, but is the only paper I've tried that makes calotypes without problems, so it was worth learning to deal with these difficulties. Canson opalux is thick 180gsm and 100% cotton, and even though it curls when it dries it can be pressed flat again. It feels weirdly like plastic. I've had some problems with opalux developing blisters when put into hypo -- not putting a pinch of alkali in the hypo helps a little. Canson also makes a tracing paper called calque that is 40gsm.. I haven't tried that one and don't know what it's made from, but I've heard that it also curls like mad when it gets wet. Off to the hardware store right now to see if I can find some polyurethane coating! Maybe the art store after that if they don't have it. cheers and have fun!

Best results so far seem to be sticking the leaf down with low viscosity epoxy (saturating the paper). If you are using polyurethane, its the same deal, glue the leaf with the PU. Much harder to do as the leaf tears so easy. Im using oil based PU btw, water based maybe better as its more transparent. Still experimenting.......

Hi awty, regarding the ebay leaf, yup, I'm fully stocked. I do calligraphy (badly) and use it for gilding capitals and picking out details. Since it's the fake stuff, I've been using a spray workable fixative to keep it from tarnishing.
Good to know about the PVA. I have Leaf sizing here and had planned to simply back a print made on to some very old Ortho Lith sheet film I have. My intention was to make only small prints as the leaf sizing is not particularly cheap. PVA I have in abundance, though, so if I can use that I'll be well pleased!
I am very curious about your order of operations. I think, because I had a fairly set idea of how I was planning on using the leaf, I'm having trouble figuring out how you've gone about things. Without giving away your hard earned trade secrets, would you mind a very brief, even vague, step by step? Thank you in advance and also for the information you've already shared!
Sincerely,
Molli

@Molli G'day Molli
Have no secrets just experimenting at the moment with different things. The ortho film sounds interesting, would love to know how that works for you. Mostly I have been gluing down the leaf with varnish. Ive tried a few types of tracing paper, but the leaf seems to be too crinkley and as the tracing paper is more transparent it looks a bit like Christmas paper. Might work if I could get the leaf to go flat. As the baking paper is less transparent, the crinkles are less noticeable. The picture has a nice glow in certain light. I have just bought some propper leaf sizing to try out.
The biggest problem with the papers are they shrink a little when washed and is hard to get flat, need to work on it.
I honestly dont have a real process, just experiment with different things to see if I can get something usable.
Last one I did, I selectively glued some gold leaf to the subject then used silver around, looked okish, but scanning looked terrible.
"spray workable fixative" whats this? Guess if you use gloves and wash and dry your print well and seal the lot soon after guilding it shouldn't tarnish.