sycamore photogram "wet cyanotype"

kevs · Mar 23, 2020

NedL said:
Thanks! Not sure how old Nate is but one thing I like about cyanotype is that the chemicals are pretty innocuous and you can just pour the wash water down the sink. My wife was talking about doing it with her kindergarten class, but decided she couldn't when she heard one of the chemicals is called "potassium ferricyanide" and she might need to explain that to parents.

<snipped>

Its slightly-less-scary name is potassium hexacyanoferrate (III).

NedL · Mar 24, 2020

I was thinking of coating the paper for her and calling it "blueprint paper" or "sunprint paper"... they sell it pre-made in the kid's section of the art store.... cheers!

NedL · Mar 29, 2020

Anise. Printed yesterday. I also made a sepiaprint of some acacia that is right now being used as a negative for a cyanotype...

Today I made one of some Queen Anne's Lace, and realized I should have kept it simpler, sometimes less is more. My daughter's high school actually had a class in flower arranging, and making a nice arrangement really is an art... a class that I'd fail at right now but will probably get better

Oh, it's been rainy and cloudy here this weekend and these are still printing pretty well. I don't think the sun came out at all during this one.

NedL · Apr 13, 2020

Bradford Pear
I think I wrote earlier that these were 7x11, which is not right. All the recent ones have been 7x9.5 inches.
I've been playing around to see how little silver I can get away with. This one only used 3 drops of 24% AgNO3 for the whole image.
"fixed" in 5% sodium sulfite, same as all the recent sepiaprints.

Also made a cyanotype yesterday of some birch leaves, but I'm flattening it now and am going to try hand-coloring it and drawing on it with some ink.

removed account4 · Apr 13, 2020

NedL said:
Thanks! Not sure how old Nate is but one thing I like about cyanotype is that the chemicals are pretty innocuous and you can just pour the wash water down the sink. My wife was talking about doing it with her kindergarten class, but decided she couldn't when she heard one of the chemicals is called "potassium ferricyanide" and she might need to explain that to parents

very benign chemistry. i called the company in california ( Berkeley ) that makes sun print paper (I think it is called sun print.org ) and asked them about their paper and the dangerousness of it all... was told it is just iron that is in the water and it is deemed "kid safe" by the state of California. Soon after that I became a "visiting artist" for my kids grammar school art class many years after that. I'd bring paper cut down for them and a box of stuff for photograms, and they had a blast.

NedL · Apr 14, 2020

jnantz said:
very benign chemistry. i called the company in california ( Berkeley ) that makes sun print paper (I think it is called sun print.org ) and asked them about their paper and the dangerousness of it all... was told it is just iron that is in the water and it is deemed "kid safe" by the state of California. Soon after that I became a "visiting artist" for my kids grammar school art class many years after that. I'd bring paper cut down for them and a box of stuff for photograms, and they had a blast.

Yeah, they aren't going to start school again this year but next fall I might make a batch for the kids in her class to use. Maybe I'll try treating some of the paper in citric acid to see if I can make some that will keep better... the paper I'm using starts to turn a bit "greenish" and not do as well after an extra day of drying. It's great if you use it within 6 or 7 hours. Who knows... a classroom full of 5 and 6 year olds, maybe some of them will remember the magic of printing out when they are older and post cool prints on photrio 50 years from now for Sean's grandkids to see

NedL · Apr 14, 2020

Here's the birch cyanotype, with a little ink and watercolor over it.

KenS · Apr 17, 2020

DWThomas said:
Not to worry -- in spring he can turn over a new leaf.

It's a really interesting project .. but I'M going to have to leaf it until next' Autumn

Ken

NedL · Apr 17, 2020

NedL · Apr 20, 2020

buckeye leaves w/ ink & watercolor, looks neat if you hold it up to the light like a transparency.

NedL · Apr 21, 2020

liquidambar

NedL · Apr 21, 2020

wiseria, w/ a little watercolor on it

NedL · May 3, 2020

Lupine. The grey from the scanner is more like a blue-green color. I'm probably going to draw/paint on this one.

winger · May 4, 2020

The new ones are great! I still want to try some, but I don't think ahead enough to have paper ready when we actually have a surprise sunny day.

CMB · May 4, 2020

Great series of xperimental photgrams!

Here's one of seed pods (sorry, no leaf) made with a single layer of carbon pigment emulsion (DAS sensitized) - 3 minutes in sunlite and warm water wash-off.

Charles

NedL · May 10, 2020

CMB said:
Here's one of seed pods (sorry, no leaf) made with a single layer of carbon pigment emulsion (DAS sensitized) - 3 minutes in sunlite and warm water wash-off.

That is very cool!!!! Thanks for posting it here. Is that as simple as speedball diazo screenprinting emulsion or is it something else ( I remember a photrio group purchase of some DAS from china?? )

These are also from last weekend:
Oaks ( sepiaprint negative, cyanotype positive made from it ):

Peach leaves:

CMB · May 11, 2020

Glad you like it. Learning a lot from your posts. Thanks.

Mine was made using standard Cyan-Magenta-Yellow Carbon pigment emulsions that were all coated on a single base. DAS sensitized yes, but not the same as the Speedball Diazo Silkscreen product.

BJ68 · May 20, 2020

Here is my first trial to color cyanotypes with acrylic colors, according to this Link: "Cyanotypes painted with acrylics" http://www.alternativephotography.com/cyanotypes-painted-with-acrylic/

Was interesting experience to mix the colors (skin tone) and try to paint....

bj68

Edit: What makes the blues deeper an gives the print a shiny finish: Put a 50% or less dilution of acrylic varnish glossy medium over it...e.g. Liquitex / Gloss Medium & Varnish https://www.liquitex.com/row/products/professional/gessoes-mediums-varnishes/gloss-medium/ but try to avoid brush strokes....

NedL · Mar 21, 2021

BJ68 said:
Here is my first trial to color cyanotypes with acrylic colors, according to this Link: "Cyanotypes painted with acrylics" http://www.alternativephotography.com/cyanotypes-painted-with-acrylic/
...

Oh no, sorry, I'm almost a year late seeing this. Thanks for posting this, it is very nice! And thanks for the tip about acrylic varnish... I will get some the next time I'm at an art store

NedL · Mar 27, 2021

Made this last weekend... Namias' Sepia, "fixed" in 5% sodium sulfite. Leaf of bleeding heart plant, paper is 9x11 inches.

fgorga · Mar 27, 2021

NedL said:
Made this last weekend... Namias' Sepia, "fixed" in 5% sodium sulfite. Leaf of bleeding heart plant, paper is 9x11 inches.
View attachment 270818

Beautiful!

sycamore photogram "wet cyanotype"

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