Cyanotype Toning.

Gall inks are problematic from a conservation point of view. I believe the same would apply to toned cyanotypes. As I mentioned earlier the stain gets worse in years.

A digital scan of the print from 2012 and a snapshot of it taken today (white balanced), with white paper to compare.

Serdar thanks for that info! Interesting print!
In the original scan why is the border different to the center? I like the black shown in the border and the paper shows clean white.
Cyanos move tone when exposed to light, maybe put it in the sunlight for a few hours to see if anything changes.
Ankara even in winter has great sunlight as you of course are familiar with.

Correct, it's not black or neutral. The color is very similar to what I get with green tea, which hardly discolors the paper at all.

I might not be remembering correctly, but I think I read that the problem with gall inks happened when ferric sulfate was used as the source of iron. Small amounts of sulfuric acid are formed which the eats away at the paper. I think gall inks that used a different source of iron, like ferric or ferrous acetate, or just exposing the gall ferment directly to iron, have been more permanent. But that's just from my memory so best to read the sources!

Happy New Year!

ced said:

Serdar thanks for that info! Interesting print!
In the original scan why is the border different to the center? I like the black shown in the border and the paper shows clean white.
Cyanos move tone when exposed to light, maybe put it in the sunlight for a few hours to see if anything changes.
Ankara even in winter has great sunlight as you of course are familiar with.

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Hi Ced,

We have quite a bit of sun still. I might leave this print under the sun to see if anything happens. I have another print made in same time to compare.

In the first image, the print is bigger than the scanner so the edges bend when I close the scanner lid, that is why the borders are a bit lighter in the scan.

So actually the image was framed and the area that is neutral black at the edges have been blocked off to the light and show what the centre of the image was before it faded & changed colour?

ced said:

So actually the image was framed and the area that is neutral black at the edges have been blocked off to the light and show what the centre of the image was before it faded & changed colour?

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Sorry Ced, I think I misunderstood the question before.You are asking about how the image is framed, right?

the negative is a regular rectangular 8x10 negative but the emulsion is not spread by brush.
Cyanotype emulsion was poured at the center of the paper, and some drops randomly thrown around.
Then a paper size glass sheet was covered over the paper. The emulsion spread naturally. I made a few brush strokes in certain areas.

Serdar at the top and left there are parts that are neutral black & different from the center of the image, why? I actually like that black.

Another quick test on toning. The toning of A&E are mentioned in the pevious image already posted.
The bleached print (A) came up like a dark sepia brown almost like a Vandyke brown but lots of paper discolouration (too much I'm sad to say).
The unbleached (E) gave the same paper discolouration but the blues went a very dark coldish black but closer to neutral than I have yet had.The paper staining makes it difficult to judge the black.
Regular with no toning (C). The paper in use here is Canson Illustration in sheets and not expensive it can take some wetting & drying but the corners take a beating.
Here I used very concentrated Yerba Mate tea and added quite a few drops of J-Regia (B) was toned directly & becomes a greenish black (D) was bleached then toned also as B. In the wet state it was grey neutral but changed to a creamy light brown almost sepia.
They both had a very long time, close to 3hrs (too long for me) in the toner and surprising they both got quite a bit darker when dried. The paper stain is more yellow but lighter.

Got this from a friend today:

ced said:

Serdar at the top and left there are parts that are neutral black & different from the center of the image, why? I actually like that black.

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Those areas are not covered by the negative, that would be the deepest blue toned by tannic acid.

Okay Serdar, I gotcha, Thanks!