darkroom-dave asked: Hey Tony, I was curious about the differences between potassium bichromate and ammonium bichromate and why you use the later.
I find the Potassium Dichromate doesn’t dissolve as well as the Ammonium Dichromate. Apparently, Potassium Dichromate produces less contrast but I can control the contrast in my print by varying the ration of Gum Arabic to Sensitizer using Ammonium Dichromate.
fallingkind asked: Hello there Tony, I am an Photo/art Grad student at Texas A&M Corpus Christi University, my name is Joshua Dancause. I am such a fan of your brilliant work with Gum bichromates. I have been researching your workflow and stumbled upon your Tumblr through youtube. I found that someone had asked you about your registrations marks and step tablets and how they were made etc. In your post you had mentioned if they emailed you, you would send them a tiff file, could you do the same for me? Best, Josh
Thank you. Send me an email gonoma@mac.com and I can email you the TIFF files.
ricsol62 asked: Hi,how do you apply cyanotype emulsion over a gelatin sized paper to make the first pass? Or do you size after the cyanotype layer is on?Incredible job, by the way…
I apply the cyanotype emulsion over the sized Rives BFK using a foam brush. I haven’t had any trouble coating or having the emulsion wash off.
nonmetametric asked: Tony, Where did you find the flat SS sink? Everyone on I look at is way to deep…
I salvaged the flat SS sinks from a science lab at Queens College where I teach. They were going to get rid of them.
oldsoulslove asked: I was looking through your archive for tips on Gum printing. I was wondering how you prevent against paper shrinkage with so many layers of gum and cyanotype. I did notice in one post that you said you do not used any backing. Also, do you size your paper and how so? Thanks in advance!
Check out my post on pre-shrinking and sizing.
https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/thegumbichromatejournal.com/84
oldsoulslove asked: Your work is beautiful BTW
Thank you!
a-cheers-blog asked: Hi Tony, Thank you for your sharing your experiences with us, you have mastered this craft. I have a couple of question about monochrome printing. Can we use the RGB curve that you have introduced in other posts for black & white printing too?? or we need to make a new curve specifically for B&W? how many layers usually you end up with in B&W. And also what brand you suggest for black pigments? Thank you
Thank you for your comments about my work. Yes, you can use the RGB curve for B&W printing too–especially if you’re going to use multiple layers. I do not use a curve specifically for B&W printing. I have used the Winsor Newton “Lamp Black” for my black pigment. Hope this helps. Tony
safakoncu asked: Thanks a lot, I got it now, blue thing I see is probably coated and exposed part of paper out of registered negative (edges of paper, out of white unexposed area). Thanks for inspiring us with your work and sharing your knowledge.
My pleasure. I’m happy to assist. Good luck! Tony
safakoncu asked: Hello again, I apologize to ask again and again but what I wonder was is there a backing to your print (during process) and do you remove it when printing is done. Some people glue their paper to aluminum sheet, in your sample photographs I see some blue material at the back of print. I wondered what was it and how to remove when printing process is over. Thanks again for your patience. (sorry my native language is not English and I might not expressed what I ask in correct way previously).
No worries, I believe I understand your question now. I’m not sure what blue material you’re seeing in my sample photographs, but I do not glue my paper to an aluminum sheet or any support material. I use the Rives BFK sheet alone with the negatives when I print. Hope this helps. Tony
safakoncu asked: Hello again, I meant the paper you use is sticks to a blue medium like plastic sheet, how to stick our paper to that medium and how to remove when print is completed. I did cyanotypes and will try gum bichromate, everything ready just waiting for good weather to come (I do not have UV lightbox yet) Thanks again for answering and sharing your knowledge with us.
I use Rives BFK watercolor paper for my prints. I place my Pictorico negative on top of the coated paper and put inside a vacuum table underneath my exposure unit to make my exposures.
