"Jars in the Window" ~ Gum Layer #4 ~ Split Colors

As I near the finish of the gum print the applied colors are more and more specifically target. My intent being enhancing the print image without altering the color scheme desired. I tend to balance the image with cool and warm tones playing off each other. That's just me. My interpretation of the scene. In this print image the warm toned portion of the print is in the inside foreground area, made up of wood. Outside the window is brilliant sunshine many stops over the inside, thus the printing has to address both density ranges.

A thin mixture of Raw Umber was brushed thinly over the inside of the window, much of which was manipulated off with warm water and stiff artist's brush after the rest of the print had been floated one minute ~ @ 65℉ ~ then the portions I wanted to thin out, which was the highlights within the wood area on the bottom and right side, respectively, was submerged in warmed water to approximately 80℉, for a few seconds before brushing the highlight areas I wanted to stay uncoated,  unaffected by the raw umber layer. This helped strengthen the image by separating the tones within the interior, and setting up for the final very sheer layer of quinacridone gold over that interior only, to brighten the highlights, darken the shadows. The area of the window and outside the window is finished, sans the final clearing bath in sodium bisulfite. That eliminates the yellow dichromate stain, which is masking the colors underneath. Blue is green before, green becomes darker, brown becomes deeper.

Knowing when to stop is more important than one might think. There are unlimited ways in which to influence the outcome of the print. Literally unlimited possibilities, only held back by the printer. I didn't post Layer #3 simply because it was a thin layer of ochre to further influence the interior and set up for the raw umber layer after that. For me, the only way to discern how to proceed in a gum printing is to study the image, get lost into the scene, "see" how it is to be, and only then is it possible to lay out a strategy for how to accomplish that, layer by layer.

Gum over Palladium
"Jars in the Window" ~ 8x10
Eugene, Oregon

Gum Printing ~ Knowing When to Stop

I laid another layer of color on the new print, Yellow Ochre to be precise, as this color is one of my go to colors in the color palette, being it is the "warm tone" color for a panchromatic image. It is the mixture intensity that has further control over adding 'color' to the image or simply shifting the light quality to a warmer tone. In this layer my intent was on the latter, shifting the overall image to a warmer tone. For my taste, using quinacridone gold would not be natural, in bright sunshine or dimly lit scene from direct sunlight. It is the late afternoon "golden glow" that the gold replicates.

I don't see the need for posting this layer as it will be indistinguishable from the last, being the layer I applied was sheer. At this stage the only means of knowing more exactly what colors remain can only be deciphered after clearing of the dichromate stain, otherwise, what is seen is a yellowish image. One of the most difficult decisions for a gum printer, after more fully understanding the controls and variables at the printer's disposal, is knowing when to stop. Once registration of the print has been mastered there is no end time to printing. One can continue on as far as desired. The all gum print I made of "The Flute Player" consisted of twenty-one print layers using thirty eight color mixtures. Very sheer color layers stacked in different order in different areas to arrive at a fully textured image with detail.

Gum over palladium, or silver or cyanotype or platinum or any other printed image is slightly different, as the textural detail, hopefully, is intact before any gum is added. The color mixtures therefore can be much heavier than in gum printing as said color layer won't cover over existing detail, it will only enhance it towards the color applied. Any gum added over a shadow area, regardless of the color, will strengthen the shadow(s). Contrast can be built this way, as long as the highlights are printed down too much. That comes under print time/float time controls. Secondary to this is water temperature. Knowing how to wield these variables to control the printing is what it's all about. That takes time.

"Jars in the Window" ~ Layer 2 ~ Split Colors

This second layer of gum was targeted. The difference between the densities outside the window and inside the window are about five, perhaps six stops apart. That creates a more complex printing than one without such differences. I came to understand how to make this possible when I made the gum print, and am merely carrying that over to the gum over palladium printing. The controls for this being; print time, float time and water temperature. Print time has to do with the tonal value one is printing to, and the float time, and temperature defines the tonal range of gum being floated off, and how fast. It's up to the printer to know when to stop floating.

I have come to embrace the deeper shadows of the image, whereas in my early years I favored texture and detail when shooting and developing. Tastes and preferences can change over time, which is probably a healthy. My application(s) of the gum color(s) follows the Makeup Rule; the effect of the color should be seen, to influence the image, but not applied such that it becomes garish, with a saturated appearance. The image shouldn't look like a neon sign. The final image should woo the viewer, to peer into the image, not grab them using bright colors. But that's just me. As always, a bit of yellow must be subtracted from the image for better color observation.

Gum over Palladium ~ Layer 2 ~ Split colors, locally applied
"Jars in the Window" ~ 8x10
Eugene, Oregon

"Jars in the Window" ~ Gum over Palladium

I am doing something I have never contemplated before. I will be reprinting an image from one medium to another, and being all my gum prints are unique, destroying the first print. I had printed "Jars in the Window" a few months ago as a gum print. That was before I came to realize the direction I wanted to go was with gum over palladium printing. Not that I will cease printing gums. I will be selecting an image that fits a gum print better than a gum over palladium version.

One of the advantages of making unique prints is that there is only the one print image to make, flawlessly. The print isn't finished until it is flawless, defined as a printed image that meets all of the expected elements and qualities the printer wanted, as pre-visualized before the printing. This isn't a science so there are caveats to this. Altering plans when there is a better direction realized during the printing process. One of those realizations, for me, is the contrast issue. There was a time when I was after texture and detail above all else. Now, I'm finding I like the deeper shadows of an image.

Being that the control of shadow detail, or lack thereof, is all about the negative, and its contrast index curve. Not to be confused with density range of the negative. The CI shape controls for the contrast of the image, the density range has to do with how long the tonal scale is in densities. They are intertwined however, one tends to beget the other. It is much easier to control for these factors in digital negatives, where it is possible to drop out the lower tonal range without influencing the upper tonal range and highlights. The inverse of this is also true. Using an adjustment <curve> is a global movement of densities, targeting specific tonalities allows for much greater creative control over the image. I only apply an adjustment <curve> when printing with metallic salts; i.e. silver, palladium or platinum/palladium. The density range for these mediums can range from Log 1.2 to 1.8 for optimal results, depending on which medium.

Gum printing doesn't need extra density to print well. When I began making gum prints I was using paper negatives, and they do not have what might be referred to as a long tonal scale. Do not believe, however, that gum prints can't be made with a negative scaled to Log 1.4, as I have made more than one gum or gum over print using such a negative. What that demands though,  is understanding the print time to different densities, with commensurate float times, at a specific temperature. Few understand this concept.

I haven't posted the original palladium print as it is but the base image. The example posted today is the palladium print with a base layer of gum over the image; Yellow Ochre. Remember to subtract some yellow from the image to compensate for the dichromate stain. This image was taken circa 1982, before I built in the carport, into a home studio, with the back space walled off into a darkroom; no windows. This was taken before the conversion, when this area was a barbecue pit area.

Gum over Palladium
"Jars in the Window" ~ 8x10
Eugene, Oregon

"Adley on the Stump II" ~ Final Print

The fourth and final gum color layer was applied this morning. Again, this was a split color print layer. The final two colors were Cadmium Yellow and Quinacridone Gold. The yellow was applied only on the orange that was on her basket and the piece Adley was eating, A sheer layer of yellow not to disturb the texture. The final color added was the gold, which was meant to show the late afternoon warm sunlight in the background area with the grasses and most notably on the stump on which Adley was seated, as it showed that warm color most.

Probably the biggest problem I have with color here is the fidelity of the digital replication of the original print. Being I don't see all the colors in the print, is the clue that I might not see a color shift, affecting hue, or color temperature say. I do my best though, and if I'm not at least fairly certain the colors do match between original print and what I am posting, I call in my color guru for confirmation. That be my sweet wife who's a painter. She sees the full spectrum.

I am happy with the finished print, having guided it to its final color version. When I began making gum prints and gum over silver prints thirty five years ago I was much heavier handed with the pigments. I was also printing from paper negatives, which have a much shorter density range than what can be done with film or digital acetate sheets. I keep a very light touch with pigment use, preferring too thin over too much, not only for textural qualities but for subtlety of use; the Makeup Rule.

What the viewer takes away from the image is not necessarily having anything to do with the intent of the printer. In this instance, the warmth of the sunshine, from low in the sky lit up certain elements of the scene, although the subject was wearing bluish gray clothing. A play on cool and warm tones, which I tend to focus on as one element of the print's intent. The use of color to separate elements in the image. Obviously, this is my take on that. I only hope the fidelity of the digital image matches the original.

Gum over Palladium Print
"Adley on the Stump II" ~ 8x10 ~ Unique
Eugene, Oregon (back yard portrait spot)