Cyanotype on a 3d surface?

[Donald Qualls]

If your enlarger has a cold light or white LED it might emit enough UV to eventually get an exposure, but most incandescent bulbs will take forever, plus or minus a month, to get there.

 

[removed account4]

@jnantz About the submerging idea....do you think if I just put a mixture of gelatin and cyanotype on the back of a negative, (cyanotype on the outside) contacted printed it, then threw the whole thing into water...would the emulsion lift off the negative? Then I could dip the 3d object in and have the emulsion wrap around it, then dry?
Or would the gelatin stick too well to a negative?

I'm not sure... but you can certainly mix gelatin and cyanotype materials together to print cyanotypes on a variety of surfaces. I'm thinking big thick blob of gelatin with cyanotype printed on it, make warm slide off of a sheet of glass after washed in cold water, then warmed with a blow drier to make semi fluid on glass surface, slide off of glass and drape on egg &c. ... who knows might work! gonna take a long time to expose in winter months unless there is snow ( instead of minutes it might be hours ).

 

[koraks]

If your enlarger has a cold light or white LED it might emit enough UV to eventually get an exposure, but most incandescent bulbs will take forever, plus or minus a month, to get there.

In theory. When I started with cyanotype, I tried a 50W halogen light because it was supposed to emit some uv (with the protective glass removed). No visible image even after half an hour at close distance. And this was even without a lens, which would block some of the uv.
So this is not going to work.

 

[jsmoove]

You could theoretically use the object itself as a lens, yes. But it'll take either a lot of experimentation or some fairly advanced optics modeling to figure it out. Interesting thought though!

When you say advanced optics modeling, I am to assume it wouldn't just work on its own to create an image is that correct?

 

[Craig75]

In theory. When I started with cyanotype, I tried a 50W halogen light because it was supposed to emit some uv (with the protective glass removed). No visible image even after half an hour at close distance. And this was even without a lens, which would block some of the uv.
So this is not going to work.

is Ware's version not quick enough either?

 

[koraks]

When you say advanced optics modeling, I am to assume it wouldn't just work on its own to create an image is that correct?

It might - you could try coating one half of a glass marble/ball with something semi-opaque to try.

is Ware's version not quick enough either?

Didn't try it, but I doubt it. Although considerably faster than classic, it's not *that* fast.

 

[Craig75]

It might - you could try coating one half of a glass marble/ball with something semi-opaque to try.


Didn't try it, but I doubt it. Although considerably faster than classic, it's not *that* fast.

i was thinking well if its just an enlargement of say x1.1 its almost a contact print but... you will have the very glaring problem of depth of field just using enlarger lens.

a very simple idea, but unreasonably complicated when you think about it.

 

[Craig75]

I'm not sure... but you can certainly mix gelatin and cyanotype materials together to print cyanotypes on a variety of surfaces. I'm thinking big thick blob of gelatin with cyanotype printed on it, make warm slide off of a sheet of glass after washed in cold water, then warmed with a blow drier to make semi fluid on glass surface, slide off of glass and drape on egg &c. ... who knows might work! gonna take a long time to expose in winter months unless there is snow ( instead of minutes it might be hours ).

or just coat thin transparent plastic / tissue paper with cyanotype materials, contact print and then just stick it on the object.

 

[jsmoove]

@koraks I do have a glass ball (from earlier experiments here in the forum) so I could get some cyanotype and coat one side/a small portion of the ball and just see what happens. I have no idea if it would work how I think it will. I wonder.

@Craig75 Yeah, I was also thinking of a way to utilize a "sticky" type of method.

 

[removed account4]

js
why don't you do this in stages .. make a negative and make a series of cyanotypes one after the next ( you will have to keep re-wetting the ones you already washed and printed ) on the egg &c several times so you get whatever negative you use not to crimp but stay flat, so instead of 1 print on your material you end up with a handful.
==added later==
how about getting thin Japanese paper and carefully fold and tuck and trim and wrap your egg or sphere or whatever it is, so its just a sheet of paper that has been trimmed to cover your material without excess or folds .. edge to edge .. then print your cyanotype on it and wax the paper. Japanese paper with wax on it is clear, like see through on film clear. .. then carefully attach it to whatever object you wanted to print on. its not printing ON the object but ...

 

[bdial]

I wonder if a printing the image on a shrink film, or perhaps the wrap material used for automotive custom finishes would work for you?

 

[jamesaz]

Or possibly make a negative on transparent frisket. It has a low adhesive tack and should be relatively easy to conform to a spherical shape.

 

[jsmoove]

@jnantz @bdial @jamesaz thankyou for all these great suggestions...not sure what I'll go with, but will update eventually after I do the research

 

[jsmoove]

Are there any emulsions that can be put in a kiln?
From my research it sounds like cyanotype can't be put in a kiln/oven due to the toxic fumes it releases.
I ask because I'm checking out "microwave kilns" , and perhaps using a slump method, I could melt an image onto a 3d object. Flat too of course.
Ceramic/ fired-on decals come to mind as well. I'm assuming laser printed ones would work better, to transfer the toner
*I didn't look far: https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/photo-ceramic-processes.83009/

 

[jsmoove]

Are there emulsions that can be exposed after baking/kiln firing? (then somehow fixed)