Did you size (and shrink) the paper before printing or do you buy internally sized paper? This step is tripping me up the most. Thank you for your thorough video!
For people that want to do this more safely with less dangerous chemicals you can use diazo sensitizer or ferric ammonium citrate with the last one you need a extra step of polymerization with hydrogen peroxide after you exposed it
Samantha Franklin, For some reason I cannot reply directly to your question, so I hope this finds you well. I went through a lot of different papers to find the best type for me. The paper I eventually landed with was a very smooth drawing paper by strathmore. Some artists prefer to pre-shrink their papers; however, I usually don't since the paper I use gets weakened by the washing process and can tear quite easily. Pre-shrinking can also warp some papers pretty heavily. Does this answer your question?
It is said that the portion should be 1:2 (one part gum powder and two parts warm water). If the potassium dichromat is in powder shape, you have to mix each part of it with 10 parts of water.
Great video, thanks! One question, though: Why did you put the transparency with the print side down? If you did not flip the image, would it be OK to put the print side up?
This ensures that the image is as close to the paper as possible. If it were face up, there would be a slight distance equal to the thickness of the transparency paper. This may cause a softer image to form. Like when playing shadow puppets, the closer your hand is to the surface, the sharper the shadow is. The softness may not be noticeable; therefore, it is up to the artist to decide on which side to place the paper. I also create prints from glass plate negatives (ambrotypes), so it's a bit of a habit.
Is potassium dichromate solution (without gum arabic) light sensitive on its own? I have mixed mine in daylight and have not used yet, so I wonder if I haven't spoiled the solution.
you're not supposed to drain the first wash, it has dichromate in it, it is highly toxic and polluting. You should wash in a tray and collect the water to dispose of it properly.
I'm not; however, my great grandmother was from Ireland and according to a DNA test, I'm 55% Irish. I love my Irish heritage and would love to visit Ireland someday.
@@DanielBrennan i might not be super precise with spotting accents, i only have two irish friends. but listening to you talk (here and there at least) i heard somfin that sounded familiar... thanks for your precise answer buddy :) .... oh... and thanks for that video, forgot to mention that :) much love im not even close from ireland.. further down in europe
You showed gloves in the rundown of necessary items but failed to use them. Tongs and gloves will save your life with this process. This is dangerous behavior.
I used gloves in the mixing process and application process. When placing the negative onto the paper, the chemicals are dried and have little chance of transmission. The rinse phase is using tap water and the chemicals are either heavily diluted or have been rendered inert. This photo process is actually very safe compared to the tintype process (which I also do).
