I have posted this image already. An earlier print I made of this train. I didn't like it. I just knew it wasn't what I had set out to do. That doesn't sit well, over time. This print was made from a modified digital negative, shortening the density range slightly, with the sky with the highest densities, much of which were clouds. Clouds tend to be white, but not blank white. This much improved the image.
The second change to this print was the order and selection of colors used. I reversed the order of the printing; from KCYMC to CYMKC. I know, seems senseless, however, it does make a difference, slight as it may be. There are also infinite iterations on the gum mixtures as well. How much of each color to use on each layer, alters the cumulative stack of color(s) The idea is to use the colors to enhance one or more of the color combinations for a particular tonal range of the image, as that also affects the print time. Printing is done to a tonality or tonal range, as it a bright sky or area of near white, or a pare of bluejeans in shade. The print time for a zone three shadow or darker color, is less than printing for the highlights; zone 7. Doesn't matter the color. Print time is predicated on the zone you are printing to.
This print was of nine print layers, using as many colors, some applied locally, as in the sky, and the tree, the train engine, and the passenger cars. The focus of the print image was the train engine, out front and center. The sky as well as the foreground are softer than the engine, bringing the engine out even more, visually. Well, that is my interpretation of the image as I perceived it. That is all the printer can do. Make it their own and accept the repercussions.
CYMK printing tends to show a longer tonal range of color, with deeper blacks and shadows, compared to RGB printing, which tends to look more like 50's color print images, softer, more pastel. RGB adds up to white; CYMK adds up to black. You get the idea. As my printing continued to demonstrate, my printing continues to change. My images are a bit softer these days, more.... pastel. But I'm liking it. I would attribute this to something that is a driving force in my printing. Each and every image has a look, a feel, from whatever emotional connection the printer, and even the viewer may get from seeing how it is presented. That, for me, is the Pictorial Effect the printer creates, using shadow and lighting effects during the creation of the negative, then the printing. That, is the printer's Hand, recognizable over time. I'm fairly happy with this one, as I got what I had set out to do, represent the elements in such a way as to make the train be the visual point.
Gum Dichromate Print "The Blue Goose" ~ 8"x10" Florence, Oregon
