"The Flute Player" ~ Gum Dichromate Print

The Flute Player print is finally finished. After two months of some pretty interesting obstacles, and a self-inflicted wound that wasn't a lot of fun, I've finally brought this image to a conclusion. This is the most complex gum print I ever attempted. There were 21 printings with over 35 color applications applied to the image. I also learned ever more subtle aspects of gum printing that I had not encountered thirty years ago, printing with paper negatives, as well as limiting the color layers to six or eight, with exception to the final gum print I made at that time, which consisted of thirteen color layers. I don't advise anyone to attempt a complex gum print until they have a really good grasp of the layering process, as once begin stacking colors over each other interesting things happen.

For those that see the fuller color spectrum, you will be able to notice what my wife did, after it was too late of course. When I added a layer of magenta on the Mime's beret, to bring up the color depth, I failed to see a line of magenta running down the side of the dark area of her hair and part of her face. That could have been alleviated by simply taking a wet brush and wiping it away after the floating, when the ran occurred. But then, if said color run isn't seen, it ends up drying with the rest of the print, and that's that. That color is there for the next thousand years.

This print is also an example of split color printing. Many times over. Certain areas get a color layer restricted to that area. A second color application is then applied to another distinct area, then printed. There is then the option of either continuing to re-coat those areas distinctly as before, or, covering both with another layer of the same color. I am doing this in the other print I'm working on, which is a reprint of The Swing, which I ruined with a single, final coat. Bad move, that. This time, after going to school on The Flute Player, I am approaching the printing in a different way, beginning the split printing earlier, and with a bit heavier mix of pigment each layer. A better explanation can be made when the print is finished.

As noted above, unintended consequences in gum printing is part of the package. There is a certain amount of predictability to the printing process, as in expectations to the color layers and how they will affect the layers below, with said predictability somewhere around 80%, give or take. There are so many potential variables involved during the course of the printing process that a perfect correlation to expectations is something close to myth. The more complex the gum print, by increasing the number of color layers applied, those variables increase, almost exponentially.

To offer a better view of the colors making up this print, for the most part, they are the basic palate of the four CYMK colors; Cyan, Yellow, Magenta & Black. The two most used colors of this print are the magenta & cyan, when combined render a brown(ish) color, the hue dependent on the mixture of each respective colors, and how often they are repeated. The two extended colors used in this print were Yellow Ochre and Raw Sienna, used separately in a couple areas, as well in combination in a thin mixture for the Mime's hair. Being my wife sees the full spectrum of color (watercolor/acrylic artist), she is my eyes for when I need input on exactly what colors are showing. Lame, I know, but necessary. I fail to see red/green unless it is obvious, or right next to another adjacent color for comparison.

"Artist Gesture" is said to be the artist's 'hand' in shaping the print, how it is interpreted. This is especially true in gum printing. There are no boundaries, no fences for how a gum print is approached and printed. From sizing the paper, gum density, color choice, and density of mixture, color layer 
order, full layering or split layering, print time, float time, water temperature and several other factors shape every print. The printer must decide how to treat the print in subtle ways through the process. One such decision for me was how to treat the Mime's hands. The hands lead right up to the focal point of the image, and the Mime's white face. The final layer applied was a very sheer mixture of watercolor lamp black. Very sheer. Being the Mime is in direct sunlight, her hands, as well as her black shirt, I wanted to keep that light on both areas. This layer was printed for the zone7-8 of her fingers next to the flute. In the original image, her fingers were very brightly lit, reading zone7-8. I kept that relationship to show the brightness of the sun. But that's just me. Another printer might have interpreted the image entirely differently. That, is the beauty of gum printing.


Gum Dichromate Print
"The Flute Player" ~ 8x10 ~ Unique
Veneta, Oregon