Photographic Publishing ~ New Book

I have been juggling my time between printing portfolios and writing books. The reason that even works is simply because I'm working on the same subject, mostly, in different genres. My print work now coincides with what I'm writing about; salt paper printing. It was the first hand coating format I learned, in 1984. The original portfolio remains in the custom wooden display box I had made for it at the time. A piece of history for me, a reminder of what can be learned with any effort. As I've noted, I took my first cues from "The Keepers of Light" in beginning my exploration into hand coated printing. This book is about that learning experience.

This is the second book in the "Alchemist's Guide;" series "Alchemist's Guide; To Salted Paper Printing". The cover design is complete and the interior of the book is being reread word by word to insure the explanations and flow of things, works. A step by step procedural guide to hand coated printing with silver. That is the focus and function of the book, in 130 pages, give or take. This will also be the first time I'll be using black and white salted silver print images in the section on the negative, to demonstrate the connection between the density range of the negative, and reciprocal tonal range of the print. The salt paper process allows for a very long scaled negative.

Gum Print ~ Putting It All Together

As can be seen in the progression of prints I made in gum, thirty years ago, what can be seen are the variables affecting the print image in some way. One of those elements being learned was print/float time. Of all the variables the printer has at their disposal, these two variables most directly control the process outcome. The earlier gum prints were mostly four color printing runs, not necessarily in the same print order, as that was one of the variables I was working on at the time.

This gum print was the last I made during that printing period. It was the culmination of all I had learned from the preceding prints. I had begun to more fully grasp the importance of print/float time, as well as the use of shear, translucent pigments. By the time I had reached this level of printing I also had begun using a heavier and better grade of paper, moving to a 140lb hot press watercolor paper. It was also this print that altered my thinking about print editions, and gum printing.

This print hangs on my wall, marked 3/5, showing an earlier sense of editions, and gum prints. It was the last of that arrangement as well. Now, all gum prints are unique. This print was also the most complex print I had ever attempted, consisting of thirteen color print layers. The task for that image, at the time, as working to attain some textural detail in the foliage and end up with something of a blue sky. The image was shot just before sunset, when the sky was overcast. This was Oregon's Willamette Valley, and wintertime brings gray skies as a daily affair. The final color layer was a yellow ochre, mixed very, very shear, and applied as thin a coat as was possible. What I had wanted to do was capture the light of the scene, the 'golden glow' of the late afternoon. That meant printing just to that level of light then only floating away the top tonality, leaving a thin layer of golden color. Theoretically.

Gum Dichromate ~ 13 color layers
"The Quiet Pond" ~ 5x7

Gum Over Silver Print

There was a second mixed media print I made, although it was more experimental, as it was the only time I used a black and white film negative for printing a gum image back then. I had been making the gums using paper negatives. The tonal scale of a paper negative fits well for the gum print. It can be said that one doesn't need a long density range to make a gum print. Any negative that would print well on a commercial silver gelatin paper would do well making a gum print. It can also be said that a negative with a longer tonal scale also prints quite nicely, and has some advantages.

Being that the  tonal range of a paper negative is not going to be anything like a film negative, print time is rather critical. A full  minute too long and one loses the subtle middle tones that overprint. With a longer tonal scale, from the longer density range of the negative, print time isn't so critical, and, there will be better separation between the tones, being there will be more density between each tonal range. A larger difference between tones, from the negative densities, means more visual separation from one tone to the next. The largest reason there is the detailed tonal separation in this image being it began as a salted silver print; (salt paper process). That laid out the scale of the image, with the coats of gum to add depth and color to the image. Theoretically, the sky should be blue(ish) with some show of the puffy white clouds, with the foreground of scrub bushes ranging from green(ish) to blue/green, being cyan was the final layer of color. There was also a magenta and yellow layers underneath the cyan layer. I didn't feel I needed black.

There has been some digital manipulation on my part in order to bring the image as close to what I saw of the actual print being copied. As I said, I'm deficient in red/green. My apologies for the interesting affects beyond the scope of that arrangement. In gum printing, color is of course everything. I just don't see much of it. I rely upon theory here. A primary reason I wasn't to repeat this silver/gum printing arrangement was because by the time I began printing like this, the world took a left turn and I wasn't paying attention, thus finding myself flying headlong forward. Interesting, that. That story can be found in my memoir. Same website selling my black and white photo book(s). The first hand coating book on the salt paper process is just finished. The Kallitype Print book is next.

There isn't much I can say about this print beyond it being a gum over silver print. The image was taken with a Schneider Kreuznach 210 Acutesar lens, mounted on a Burke & James 5x7 flat bed view camera, somewhere in northern Arizona. I believe. It was a long time ago.

Gum Dichromate over Salted Silver Print

"Desert Mesas" ~ 5x7 ~ Unique

First Gum Print

As I promised, I am posting the image of my first gum print. It's a bit rough around the edges, yet it was also very instructive for me. This image was printed in the order it is discussed in theory; CYMK with the first layer cyan, yellow, magenta then black. I defaulted to that order as I assumed at the time that it was the way to go, as in a standard procedure. I didn't realize at the time it was but one of many, many variations upon the theme.

I was also using paper negatives for this process, with a much shorter tonal scale potential than a film or digital negative. Anyone having printed from paper negatives know the amount of light needed for printing is only very slightly different than said film negative. I also did not wax my negatives or manipulate them a la Robert Demachy, although in the age of digital manipulation of every stripe, mechanical manipulation of a negative shouldn't shake up any sensibilities.

What this print also shows are the brush marks left from coating the paper using slightly less gum that optimal. The gum tends to dry as it is applied and the thinner the layer applied the faster the drying. By the time one area has been coated, bringing up fresher gum to bring it all together tends to leave dark/light streaking, the difference between the dryer & wetter gum being 'stretched'. I now mix slightly more than is needed, spreading with a larger brush, more quickly and evenly, ridding the streaking and clumping.

Unfortunately, at that time I didn't keep notes on the gum process as I was learning it, or anything on printing procedures on any print. That leaves me to speculate on the more exact handling of things. I do know the color print order because I was following what I thought to be the only correct way of printing. What I remember of it is that I used roughly equal mixes of each color, not emphasizing one over the other. Being most color blind in red/green there is likely much I am missing in the image. What I can see of things in the trees is the detail and brighter earth tones than the ground area. Also note the piece of the lawn chair in the left of the frame, showing pretty realistic representation.

The second thing I wasn't yet aware of was the printing to light, as I am now. The white sweater the number one son is wearing is just beginning to show any detail, represented by zone 7. Much of the sweater remains in the zone 8 tonal range; blank white. He was also wearing his trademark black trousers, which for me was pretty perfect for what I was doing, working in black and white.

It is also important to keep in mind that the amount of pigment used in these gum prints is minuscule. I use a one ounce clear plastic pill dispenser to mix my gum & pigments, a second one to hold the dichromate. I use the wooden or plastic tip of an artist's brush, to "touch" the watercolor pigment in a tube. Touch. Very small bit at the end. That is mixed into 1 1/2- 2 milliliters of gum, or two to three full eyedropper draws of the gum. Two full eyedropper draws is sufficient to just cover an 8x10 print size, I use three draws for any first coat to the paper being it takes a bit more to cover the paper on the first layer, much like painting raw wood. It absorbs material.

I am almost certain the sizing for this print on Canson paper was a single coat of 2 1/2% gelatin. That would also explain the sinking into the paper of the image, and some of the streaking, as when absorbed it the fibers more it dries that much quicker. I am unable to say what the print time was being I depended upon sunlight and an old GE light meter as a guide. I do know I used north light, not direct sunlight.

Gum Dichromate Print #1
"Son in backyard" ~ 1984 ~ 5x7 ~ Unique

Gum Printing ~ Altering Variables

Beginning from the premise that gum printing, unlike all the other hand coated photographic processes, has no boundaries, nor many limitations to making the gum print. There is no standard printing process or procedure. No standard order for mixing color, or even which color(s) used. It is all up to the printer. When I began making gum prints I followed, as closely as I could, the basic information on the subject from the book "The Keepers of Light". First photo Bible book on the subject. My first gum print was of my son, standing in the back yard, hand on a lawn chair. That print hangs on my wall, having never been photographed.

That printing was pretty much what I could extrapolate from the book's description of the process. That first print was a four color print; cyan, yellow, magenta and finally black. The final image was amazingly good, considering image colors and textural detail. What I didn't have yet was the understanding about printing to the light. My son was wearing a white sweater, with little textural detail, leaving mostly a zone 8 white. As a first trial run, it wasn't bad. I will post that image, after I make a digital photo copy decent enough to show.

The gum print image I am posting today was probably the fourth or fifth print I made at the time. As I have noted before, there are levels of variables that control the final print image. One of those variables is sizing. Sizing is important. The principle of making an optimal gum print has to do with keeping the gum layers connected to the paper base, referred to as the paper's "tooth". This doesn't necessarily mean a rough feeling paper. It has to do with the paper's fibers and how that paper is sized. As a substrata, the paper/gum contact is not continuous in all areas. Think of this relationship relating to density range/tonal range of the negative to gum layers being affected by the UV light.

I tend to print the black layer first, for two reasons. The first being it not only sets up the framework of the image, showing enough to know what the image is, and secondly, it also indicates the print time/float time relationship. A good sturdy black in a scene is usually from zone 1 through zone 3; dMax black (zone 1) up through zone 3, or the shadow area with detail. The printing process proceeds in the same relationship as densities in a negative during development. Zone 1 arrives first, before zone 2 arrives at that density, then zone 3 density develops in, right through zone 7, in order. Once the development of the negative reaches zone 5, zone 1 thru zone 4 is permanent, and no amount of further development will alter their densities. This is the same process procedure for gum printing.

As in the development time of a negative only controlling the highlights, by variation of time, so works the gum process control of the tonal range permanence via time. The affect of UV light reaching the colloid material holding the pigment is to make that area hardened, to the extend of the amount of light reaching it. The longer the UV light falls upon the colloid the more permanent it becomes, and less affected by water; floating. What that translates to is simply that the print time affects how much of that gum layer becomes permanent, considering the affect of the float time, washing away that gum that wasn't affected by the UV light during printing.

Back to the first black layer and print time/float time. I know roughly the density range of the negative I'm using. That tells me the ball park estimate of the 'total print time'. That would refer to that print time that holds zone 7 in place during floating, with a 2-3 minute float time washing away excess gum and leaving just enough in the highlights to leave textural detail, and nothing more. Printing to the light. Extrapolate from that and we arrive at estimates for print time for black, up to zone 3. If the 'total print time' is say twelve minutes, which would make everything pretty much permanent up to zone 7, then the first pass using black, the print time I would use would be somewhere around 5-6 minutes, depending on how much black I want to show up in the final image.

More control variables show up in the floating process, being there is float time, and float temperature considerations. I begin with the coldest tap water possible because if the cold water isn't floating off enough of the gum layer as you might like, then warming the water increases the affect of the floating, considerably. If I begin with water temperature around 70 degrees and that isn't removing enough gum, then I heat the water to 80 degrees and float 30 seconds to 1 minute and reevaluate. If not enough, warm the water to 90 degrees and continue. If that doesn't get it, then you go to warm water and an artist's brush, for direct manipulation. The tricky part of that procedure is that using this method tends to remove most if not all gum you are brushing, unless a very soft brush loaded with water, for the least amount of gum removal as you brush. Another option is using something like a water pick or any controllable way to softly run water over the surface of the print, with ability to alter water temperature.

The print I am posting here is an experiment in sizing. I had begun with a single sizing using Knox Gelatin at 2 1/2%. That offered up a fairly good surface for that first gum. I began double sizing the paper using 2 1/2% solutions each dip. This print was made using a 5% gelatin solution in a single dip. The question being, is a 5% sizing equal to (2) 2 12% dips. It does. The gum connected to the paper without as much tooth, staying on the surface sufficiently to become visually evident, as can be seen in the image below. This is the only image I made using this sizing. All of the early gums were made using a paper negative.

Gum Dichromate Print
"Fern Ridge at Sunset" ~ 5x7 ~ Unique

Mixed Media Printing ~ Gum over Silver

One of the variations to gum printing is printing over an existing image, such as silver, platinum, or palladium. All three of which have been done, although from my perspective putting gum layers over a platinum or palladium print borders on blasphemous behavior and should be dealt with harshly. But that's just me. Others do it, and I am left horrified, it is what it is. Such is life. I speak of printing gum layers over Silver. I confess this derives mostly due to the historical fact that silver was the element I was able to afford those many years ago, likely laying the foundation to my perceptions of the practice.

Gum can be applied all by itself or over existing images, of every element. I have seen gum printing over a Cyanotype. I will say that particular print was most interesting visually speaking. Despite my use of satire in describing certain combinations of mixed media printing, I am of the belief that any hand coated form used by the photographer is legitimate. To each their own as far as what mediums combined and which elements utilized. It is this open expression that allows for personal artistic expression to come forth. The printer's "hand", or that which can be seen as unique to each printer.

The underlying print image is a salted paper silver image, over-coated with four layers of pigmented gum. The element that allows this to happen successfully is registration. Not possible without it, if, any form of realism is expected. That takes keeping the five separate printing images aligned, without slippage. The original image layer is of course the salt paper image, although it could be a Kallitype or Van Dyke image as well, if silver is to be used. Any combination of colored layers of gum can be used, and as many as desired. The order in which I printed this image was a reverse form of CYMK, beginning the the black, to strengthen the existing blacks, then magenta, yellow and finally cyan, as I wanted that final primary influence to be blue(ish), for the sky. Success meant realizing the blue sky as well as green(ish) in the foliage. I arrived fairly close to that.

The image is a digital photo copy of the original print. The texture of the paper can be readily seen. The paper I used back then was Canson, with the texture seen here, as I liked the textured look of the final image. That was then, now, I use a smooth toothed paper. The original silver print leaves the textural detail of the image, leaving the gum layers to add color and depth to the underlying image.

Gum Dichromate over Salted Silver Print
"The Light House" ~ 5x7 ~ Unique

Gum Dichromate Printing

I have not been idle over the holiday season, even though I haven't blogged about it. In tandem with the printing work I've been doing, building portfolios, including the gum print I've been posting on, I have also been working diligently on finished the second book in the "Alchemist's Guide;" series of books on black & white photography and hand coated processes. There will be five books in the series when complete, this book being the second in the series; "Alchemist's Guide; to Salted Paper Printing". The cover design was completed some time ago and the interior was pretty much finalized this past week. Now I move into the editing & formatting stage, making sure everything is there that is supposed to be, and nothing else that shouldn't be.

I have also included several salt paper images, to demonstrate differences with density ranges in the negative. I have not attempted that before, being the standard trade book format used by POD platforms, use standard uncoated printing paper with black ink printing. That takes out the normal print 'color', reducing all images to a pretty true 'black and white'. What will remain visually useful is the contrast range of the image, along with the textural detail expected from a salt paper print, when printed correctly. Now, the tough work begins, bringing everything together so as to make for understandable reading and easy application of the principles learned.

I have been posting gum prints made in the past year, after more than a thirty year hiatus from printing any hand coated process. The early gum prints, like most single negative gum prints, lacked much in the way of tonal separation or any textural detail. That takes time to learn. This medium is technically a photographic watercolor, and I can tell you watercolors aren't easy to get a hold of being there is no real way to corral watercolor technique into some standard style. The primary variables being translucency of pigments used, the selected colors used in combination & order of stacking, paper, sizing, negative density range, print time, float time and a few other more subtle variables.

During the learning curve of gum printing, all these variables pretty much take up the fuller attention while printing. Sort of like the golf swing in its many parts, each part has to conform to the other parts to end up with a full, smooth swing, from back to front. Beginners try to think about all those movement & posture parts during the swing. No need to mention outcomes, until after the ten thousand swings become one smooth motion, without thinking about it, just letting the body do its work. Gum printing has the many variables as moving parts towards the print's outcome, with the printer focusing on each part, instead of the point of focus that makes the print sing. Printing to the light. Without that, there are only colors stacked upon each other.

At the time of this printing I was beginning to learn about primary CYMK colors being stacked in order to arrive at a multicolored image. Before I learned the importance of translucence watercolor pigments. The results are very similar to the very early gum prints made at the turn of the 20th century, notably by Edward Steichen. Color and form, but not yet tonal separation with textural detail. Apparently, no one at the time got into this medium passionately enough to work it out. There are three basic approaches to gum dichromate printing. Color separated negatives, including RGB and CYMK color separated negatives, and, single black&white negative multi layer printing.

The color separated negatives now days are accomplished using software, choosing either an RGB or CYMK format for the color image, then using the 'channels' application, separate the image into the three, or four channels, respectively, then printing those channels into three, or four negatives, respective of the channels. Hence using the CYMK format as I do, there would be four negatives for printing; Cyan, Yellow, Magenta & Black, and each negative would be used in successive printing color layers of the same color, leaving a four color image that, when done correctly, will look like a Polaroid color image of brilliant color. For a visual reference of this technique, and ability, Google Stephen Livick.

For whatever reason, I have never been drawn to the color separated gum technique. The finished images pretty much replicate what would be seen in everyday life, in soft pastel colors, with exception to Mr Livick, who has made brilliant full colored prints, in 16"x20" format. Took my breath away when I saw that. As I have noted more than once I am almost color blind to red/green, and thereby missing a good deal of color information just looking at the real world before me. Replicating what I see of it would be drearily boring even to me. I prefer creating an image that would not, could not be seen by anyone other than through the print image I create.

A closing note on gum printing; when the first gum prints were being made, beginning in Antebellum America, they were called gum bichromate prints, being the sensitizer used was a bichromate, perhaps bichromate of potash or a ammonium based form of bichromate, it has long been replaced with the Dichromate form, which comes in two base forms; Ammonium dichromate and potassium dichromate. I use the latter. The ammonium form ends up being a bit faster, with some of that deriving from a more potent mixture, nearing twice the dilution of the potassium form, which becomes a saturated solution at 13%, whereas the ammonium form can be mixed to around 25%, hence more light sensitive.

Also keep in mind the first true "Carbon" print was made by Alphonse Poitevin in 1855 by adding carbon black to a colloid. In 1858 he used colored pigments mixed with gum Arabic creating the first color gum images. Gum printing has a long, storied history. The choices we have today in buying tubes of high quality watercolor pigments is amazing. This allows an equally amazing potential for gum printing. The images derive from a digital photo copy of the actual print.

Gum Dichromate Print
"Red Forest Sunset" ~ 5x7 ~ Unique