I've got the blues - Cyanotype pain

[koraks]

Very nice! The prints on the Canson paper look especially good to me.

 

[cirwin2010]

Very nice! The prints on the Canson paper look especially good to me.

It is quite the improvement! The paper is cheap too which is nice. Though I'd say it is pretty high effort for prep work between acidification, and pre-humidification or double coating. The results seem to be worth it and it is cheap.

There might be ways to improve the HPR results with classic cyanotype as well. I have not tried double coating it yet and I might revisit using a different acid for the first wash. The HPR paper is nicer than the Canson paper and it doesn't curl, but once matted it probably doesn't matter.

 

[koraks]

Like you said, what counts really is what the final product looks like. I personally don't care much whether a paper is supposed to be fancy or not; the question is if it works well! Looks like you found a winning combo, enjoy!

 

[fgorga]

I've made three prints of the same image with the following recipes:

Congratulations! Your persistence has paid off well.

Good use of the good old fashion New England cold spell!

All three of these prints are perfectly acceptable... slightly different interpretations, but certainly acceptable.

The toned print is also very nice... the toning really takes the edge off the in your face Prussian Blue.

I look forward to seeing more work in due time.

 

[Raghu Kuvempunagar]

Well done! Looking forward for more.

 

[jda]

I've made three prints of the same image with the following recipes:

Left:
-Hahnemuhle Platinum Rag
-Classic Cyanotype (CC) 20% FAC
-Paper pre-humidified before coating
-single layer coating
-exposed 4.5m
-0.25% citric acid first wash

Middle:
-Canson XL Watercolor
-Classic Cyanotype (CC) 20% FAC
-Paper coated dry
-Paper acidified in 10% sulfamic acid
-double layer coating
-exposed 6m
-0.20% sulfamic acid first wash

Right:
-Canson XL Watercolor
-Mike Ware's New Cyanotype (NC)
-Paper acidified in 10% sulfamic acid
-Paper pre-humidified before coating
-single layer coating
-exposed 4m
-1.00% sulfamic acid first wash

I feel like this is the culmination of all my efforts. Canson XL Watercolor after acidification has given me results I am very happy with. As you can see from the attached images, I get better dmax and smoothness with both combos using the Canson paper.

The double coated CC combo definitely has more dmax giving more visual punch to the image. Though it does have some "grain" that is visible in the midtones. This appears to be some slight unevenness to how the solution absorbs into the paper.

The NC combo has improved dmax over the HPR CC combo, but not as much as the double coated CC Canson combo. It does have much better smoothness than using CC and the royal blue color is beautiful. Not sure which I like better.

Oh and for fun I attached an image of CC HPR toned in instant coffee for a few hours

Thanks for your post. It’s full of useful information. And I appreciate the info on Canson watercolor paper. I’ve ordered some. It is certainly more economical.

 

[4LivingWage]

I assume you have surmounted your problems. You commented on my later post. I was having similar problems with the crystallization and coating. Diluting the new cyanotype solution 20% fixed the problem, eliminating the crystals without any drop in dmax. Good luck and catch up with you later. Nice photo btw.

 

[cirwin2010]

I assume you have surmounted your problems. You commented on my later post. I was having similar problems with the crystallization and coating. Diluting the new cyanotype solution 20% fixed the problem, eliminating the crystals without any drop in dmax. Good luck and catch up with you later. Nice photo btw.

Glad that is working for you! Took me a while to realize that the advice of other users really was the best. "Just try a different paper." Worked for me in this instance and I ended up with something that gave me superior (imo) results than where I originally started.