One more classic cyanotype toned with Sumac extract on Canson XL Watercolor 300 gsm paper:
View attachment 372165
Barn Door. Frederick ,MD.
Thought the rust and faded paint would look better on a brown print.
Might be the last one for a while (hopefully not never) before I move to my new place and figure out how to set my work flow all over again.
:Niranjan.
Niranjan,
lovely print - I am intrigued with the sumac toning. I have experimented with other plant based toners when I first became interested in cyanotypes, but dropped it as I moved on to other processes. I may give this a try again - I see the sumac extract is commercially available so somewhat easy to obtain. I have used that paper for cyano in the past and had great results. Good luck on you move and setting up a new workflow. Again a really nice print
Dave
Ah, thanks; I was wondering about this. I'm familiar with the seasoning sumac, which I think is the dried fruit of the 'sumac' tree. I'm not a botanist, but I think there's quite a few rather different trees or shrubs out there that are all referred to as 'sumac'. The sumac that's used for culinary purposes has a slightly acidic, tangy taste, but it's a far cry from the levels of tannic acid you find in stuff like acorns, oak galls etc. I doubt the culinary sumac will do much in the way of toning cyanotypes.P.S. Earlier I made an error in answering a question from @koraks, I think I said it was extract from the bark of Sumac tree. I guess when I bought some I ended up, without knowing the difference, ordering extract from gallnuts of Sumac tree instead.
Ah, thanks; I was wondering about this. I'm familiar with the seasoning sumac, which I think is the dried fruit of the 'sumac' tree. I'm not a botanist, but I think there's quite a few rather different trees or shrubs out there that are all referred to as 'sumac'. The sumac that's used for culinary purposes has a slightly acidic, tangy taste, but it's a far cry from the levels of tannic acid you find in stuff like acorns, oak galls etc. I doubt the culinary sumac will do much in the way of toning cyanotypes.
Coincidentally, I also did experiments (years ago) with oak-based concoctions for cyanotype toning. I found that boiling the de-husked acorns and then reducing the liquid yielded a very good toner concentrate that indeed gave pleasing magenta/purple tones with relatively little staining. I was looking for something brown/black at the time, so I didn't do much with it apart from a couple of tests. Maybe I should revisit this when autumn comes.
I'm not sure what and how much a multi-colour print would bring to the table.
I was musing about the usefulness of sumac toner for the magenta layer of a tricolor cyanotype because of the apparently low staining.
Ok, I get it. However, it appears quite 'brown'. TBH, madder root is also far from a pure magenta, but it's much closer than the colour in this print. a madder-toned print looks a bit bluer than magenta, more in the lilac direction, but more 'red' than the sumac in this print. But I'm keen to find other magenta alternatives that don't stain so much.
Since we're talking about toning cyanotypes, I'm feeling like in semi-familiar terrain... As mentioned by @nmp above, a lot of the toners stain the paper quite substantially. But sometimes, that's the compromise you have to make.
In terms of turning a cyanotype to a fairly neutral black and white print (without excessive staining), the best thing that I have found was an infusion of young-ish birch leaves. Virtually no stain and beautiful grey tones. But, of course, we can get similar tones with a number of silver processes, too. As for the sumac-toned print, I think it's gorgeous as it is. I'm not sure what and how much a multi-colour print would bring to the table.
One thing that I've done a bit of is to combine (toned) kallitypes with straight cyanotypes. They combine very nicely (you have to print the kallitype first and fullly tone it, otherwise it will bleach from the application of the cyanotype chemicals). A different kind of duo-tone (that looks more like an extension of a monochrome print).
Yeah, birch leaves sound intriguing. Have a large number of birch trees in the park I go to every day for a walk. That would be free too. I am assuming @maverickaesthetics is talking about un-bleached cyanotype. Mine is after full bleaching, by the way. I am biased towards warm prints so I did not try to tone an unbleached (or partially bleached) print to get a more neutral tone.Thanks so much for this information, as I mentioned I have experimented with the usual cyano toning agents, coffee, espresso, tea, wine tannin and even sweet potato skins with only so-so success. As you noted, staining of the light tones was a problem. However as I am typing this, I am looking out my window at the large white birch tree just outside, I realized I have another option. Thanks for the suggestion.
Dave
To not fully hijack this thread with cyanotype toning, I've started a new thread on the subject. Niranjan, you are right, I personally am using unbleached prints. But I've posted an example of a bleached print toned with birch leaves in the first post of the new thread as well. If you bleach your cyanotype first, the resulting print after toning is a warmish brown.However as I am typing this, I am looking out my window at the large white birch tree just outside, I realized I have another option. Thanks for the suggestion
Yeah, birch leaves sound intriguing. Have a large number of birch trees in the park I go to every day for a walk. That would be free too. I am assuming @maverickaesthetics is talking about un-bleached cyanotype. Mine is after full bleaching, by the way. I am biased towards warm prints so I did not try to tone an unbleached (or partially bleached) print to get a more neutral tone.
One of my all-time favourite prints.
I like to combine cyanotype with other processes. This one I printed a couple of years ago or so. Cyanotype over palladium. One of my all-time favourite prints.
Minimalism I - Birdling's Flat
View attachment 372470
Now if you make a giant print of this and change your name to Gursky, you can sell it for $5M.
:Niranjan.
Edit: Just in case, I meant it as a complement....I like the image/print very much!
Minimalism I - Birdling's Flat...
Andrew,
This is very interesting - can you give some details on the type and resolution of the LCD and the UV source. Really fascinating idea for alt photo processes.
Dave
I've probably done enough work now that I should make a separate thread about it, so I will and post a link when I do rather than cluttering up this thread.
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