Fresson Process -

fresson extract

perhaps this will be of some intrest

fresson extract part 2

this is part 2

FilmSprocket, i'll scan the article tonight and PM you the link.

Cheers,
kevs

kevs said:

FilmSprocket, i'll scan the article tonight and PM you the link.
Cheers,
kevs

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Got it! Excellent! Thank you very much!

Marc

Stephen Frizza said:

I have a book called HISTORY and PRACTICE OF CARBON PROCESSES BY LUIS NADEAU which has a segment holding a ton of information on the Fresson process if anyone would like any of this information don't hesitate to contact me.

~Steve
The Lighthouse lab

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hi steve, if you don't mind i would like to have the information too
Thanks in advance

Art Chakalis knows more about the Fresson process than any person other than the Fressons. Art has done some excellent research on the process and has had some slices of real Fresson paper looked at with electron microscope so he has a very good idea of how the different layers of the coating were done and what they consist of. He does hold some patents based on his research.

Anyone who wants to contact Art should try to do so through the alt-photo-process list serve, which he visits from time to time.

All of the other stuff about Fresson that you read in various sources, including some mentioned here, is most BS IMO.

Sandy King

clay said:

I heard Art's lecture at APIS, and he is getting close on his recreation of a Fresson-like direct carbon process. It sounds daunting. He described an emulsion composed of both gelatin and gum along with the pigment. And apparently the whole coating process is very sensitive to temperature - it sounded like his version had an ideal band of temperature that was about 2-3 degrees wide. He had some examples with him, and they were comparable to the Fresson examples, with just slight differences in texture and tonal smoothness. Art has apparently either applied for, or gotten patents on his process.

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The Focal Encyclopedia of Photography has a short but highly explanatory section on Fresson. At the time of my Third edition (1993), not only was Fresson still doing prints but also, under license, Luis Nadeau in Canada. It also mentions work done by Shiela Metzner and Bernard Faucon and cites the book: Nadeau, Luis, "History and Practice of Carbon Processes," Fredericton, New Brunswick, Atelier Luis Nadeau.

The process does seem to be related to gum bichromate. The explanation in the Focal Encyclopedia says that the unexposed pigment is removed by gentle abrasion, which probably means the sawdust mentioned above. One of the posts above mentions that the gum is sensitized by floating it face up on the dichromate solution. That, if carefully controlled, could be a key to the success of the process. The dichromate penetrates from the bottom up. With careful timing, the top contains less sensitizer than the bottom and is less sensitive to light. That will make less exposed parts of the top wash off first.

Just a small addition. There is a section on Graphics Atlas (one of the most awesome pages on the Interwebs if you ask me, at least if you are interested in all kinds of printing processes at all) on the Fresson process. Including samples and details etc.

http://www.graphicsatlas.org/identification/?process_id=306

Hope you enjoy!

Luis Nadeau is listed as the person who has the Fresson Process rights, and of course he has written may books which I own on PT PD , Carbon . But for the life of me I have never seen a print made by him , never seen a local show with his prints and am wondering has anyone here seen his prints?.
He is Canadian and I would think his work would be present in local Canadian Galleries that I frequent. But not one show I have seen and I have been running a printmaking operation for 25 years in Toronto.

Although Nadeau was able to secure Echague's ancient coating machine, he was unable to get Echague to give him the true formula for the “secret sauce” (gum arabic+gelatin+pigment+?) for making Fresson prints. That is why you have not seen examples of his “Fresson” prints nor why he has never described the details of the process in his many writings.

Keep in mind that Echague was not the most honorable of men. A passionate supporter of Franco and a general in his air force, he made the aerial photographs that Richthofen's Condor Legion used as the “maps” (carbon prints!!) in the bombing of Guernica, April 26, 1927.

Charles