Paul
Wonderful prints!
I have been experimenting with making cyanotypes on vellum and backing them with (imitation) gold leaf ala Dan Burkholder. Thus I am very interested in the details of your process. So I hope that you do not mind me peppering you with questions!
Are you using the typical non-stick parchment paper used by bakers? If so, bleached or unbleached? Do you have to treat the paper to get it to absorb sensitizer? Are you varnishing the print after exposure to increase transparency?
I have made some nice cyanotypes on vellum but it is not transparent enough to allow the metal to show well. I have tried the vellum the Burkholders sell for their process, but am still working on getting a good cyanotype print with it. I'm using digital negatives and need to optimize the curve. This is a long slow process given all the steps involved. I've also had issues with the paper buckling and not flattening back down well.
I've made some nice inkjet prints on vellum backed with gold or copper, but have not tried to show them on the web because the scans don't do them justice.
Regards,
Hi Frank. Its been about 18 mths since I experimented with the process and I was constantly changing methods.
I had one baking paper that would hold most of the emulsion during washing, its very flimsy and still needed to over expose, have no idea what paper it was, just what I found in the wraps draw.I didnt have any luck with any of the tracing paper I tried. Someone gave me a piece of the correct paper, which is stronger and less crinkly, but also less transparent.
I tried, varnish, epoxy, shellac and anything else I could find lying around. I bought a bottle of sizing glue, but its still in the same packet.
Was going to experiment this year, but struggling with motivation. Last weekend I found a few I earlier prints I discarded and they dont look too bad, maybe you can motivate me to try again.
I washed my prints by placing them on a plastic cutting board and gently washing under a shower nozzle, really easy to tare when wet.
Think the best method once you have a print on the paper, is to glue the gilding with the correct glue, then varnish over the top, then dry and use a iron or print flattener.
They are really hard to show on the internet, so need to give some dispensation. I love how the light plays with them.