Fabriano not so fabulous with VDB's...

I had a couple of extra sheets of Fabriano Artistico and thought I'd try some VDB's with it.

The color is...ok, but there is an awful lot of bronzing and I am thinking that they're just plain ugly and a downright failure.

I did try to use a 2% citric acid developer as well as not using it at all. Not much of a difference between the two visually as far as I can tell.

Was just wondering if Fabriano is on anyone's 'good paper' list. I did not like it, but that doesn't mean that others out there might have had good success with it.

Anyone?

Michael Slade said:

I had a couple of extra sheets of Fabriano Artistico and thought I'd try some VDB's with it.

The color is...ok, but there is an awful lot of bronzing and I am thinking that they're just plain ugly and a downright failure.

I did try to use a 2% citric acid developer as well as not using it at all. Not much of a difference between the two visually as far as I can tell.

Was just wondering if Fabriano is on anyone's 'good paper' list. I did not like it, but that doesn't mean that others out there might have had good success with it.

Anyone?

Click to expand...

Michael,

I;ve not tried Fabriano Artisco with VDB but have tried Fabriano Satinata with so so results. The FA might be a good paper if you gelatin sized it, I use FA extra white to print gum on it works well with cyanotype when sized.

One paper that works well is Cranes Natural White Wove 90 which is realtively inexpensive and you can purchase directly from Cranes in 25 sheets lots of parent sized sheets.

Stonehenge white will also work well. You can get that from Daniel Smith.

Don Bryant

Michael,

I don't do VDB, I do platinum and gum. The artistico does not work well for platinum unless it is first treated to reduce the alkalinity of the paper. Try soaking the paper in a bath of 2% oxalic acid for about 10 minutes. Then, just hang to dry completely. No rinsing or anything. Not sure if this will help with VDB, but worth a try.

Michael,

Let me reinforce what Kerik has said, and in addition add that I have gotten packs of Fabrianno that were just downright impossible to make a good pt/pd print on, so I suspect there may be some batch-to-batch variability in the paper to be aware of.

When it's working well, it is possible to produce a truely great pt/pd print on the paper.


---Michael

Artistico is 100% cotton and soft sized. Very nice for drawing, good for some watercolor or brush and ink work. It may be starch sized, I don't know, but it is most likely not geletin sized, a process that makes for harder and more bleed-resistant surfaces. You spend time with the Daniel Smith catalogue- they are a great source for paper because they know what they are selling; what the fiber is, what the sizing is and what non-photographic printmaking processes go well with what paper. I think you may want something that is suggested for lithography or serigraphy (silk screen printing) if you want a less absorbent surface- Arches Cover? If you want something softer, try Rives BFK. If super absorbent paper is called for, look for the term "water leaf" in the name or description. Magnanni (sp?) is an example. Darn stuff sucks the oil out of your fingers when you pick it up.

Michael,

For whatever reason, I have really good results with VDB and Fabriano Aristico, both cold press and hot press. I bought a lot of each last summer. This is the only time I have bought it so I may have just been lucky. I don't do anything to it before coating. My water is alkaline so I do use citric acid in my developing bath.

I have had bronzing a few times but only in the deepest shadows and only when I over exposed the print.

I have found that I have a problem when printing Argyrotype on hot press but not on cold press. The hot press is mottled. I maid a few attempts to see if I could correct it but finally just quit using hot press with this process.

Thanks for the tips guys. I was really just trying to share the info. before anyone else went out and tried it. I'm honestly surprized that some of you have had good results.

I've been experimenting with all kinds of different papers for VDB's...I've been getting excellent results from Somerset hotpress, which I have not seen anyone recommend in any literature or on any site before. So, I keep trying all different kinds of paper just to see what it'll do.

I just recieved a whole bunch of Platine from DS. I have heard excellent things about it, but I have not had a chance to try any yet. I've been too busy out making images and haven't made any negatives yet.

Thanks for the info sharing.