Alt-Process Prints from Digital Negatives or Positives

[LesleyNowlin]

Hi Lesley, bummer it's not working for you. Here's my settings I use. The color density should have no bearing on this problem. Maybe try taping a piece of plain paper to the back of the film and see if it might get the printer to accept the film? I haven't tried that because my printer seems to work where others do not for some reason.
Perhaps try different paper types settings if you haven't already? Good luck, I hope you get it worked out!

Thank you, Erik! I will try your settings soon. Much appreciated.


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[LesleyNowlin]

Really looking forward to trying this new PiezoDN!!!! http://piezodn.inkjetmall.com Doesn't work on the P600 or P800 yet, but it does on the Artisan 1430...will try it as soon as it comes out!

[WalkerBlackwell]

Launching tomorrow. I will probably be programming until the last minute.

best all,
Walker
InkjetMall R&D (formerly Light Work, Latitude, Black Point Editions, etc)

[Bob Mann]

"Photogram on glass"

8x10 sheet of glass, covered with candle soot and spattered with hypo, windex, photoflo, and paint thinner. On the whole sheet of glass much of finer details are lost, I prefer the cropped section.

[sanking]

A gold-toned vandke print printed from a digital negative. Image size is 20"X30" on Lanaquarelle pre-soaked with 1.5% oxalic acidic bath.

Subject is a fig orchard in the Sierra de Gredos, in Spain. Image capture with a Sony a7r, converted to 720 nm IR.

Sandy

[davehyams]

Sandy your VDB prints are really the benchmark for that process. I am always amazed to see what you do with that process, its incredible. Any wisdom you would be willing to share with the community about your chemical workflow would be appreciated by me and probably more. Really gorgeous print of a beautiful image. Thanks for putting it up.

d

[sanking]

Dave,

First, thanks very much for your kind comments about my VDB work. Some years ago I spent many months experimenting with a methodology that would give the richest results with gold toned Vandyke. The results of that experimentation were published in an article at http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/GTV/gtv.html, and the article is also on my website. The image files in the article are very true to the color of the prints, a luscious and unique shade of blue/black color.

I had not worked with gold toned vandyke for several years but recently I agreed to do a workshop on digital negatives and vandyke printing at the Light Factory in Charlotte. The preparation for the workshop got me interested in doing some more work with this lovely process, and the image I posted is the first gold toned vandyke I have done in several years. I must confess that when I renewed my work with gold toned vandyke some of the details were a bit sketchy, but I actually followed my own procedures from the article and everything went very smoothly.

Perhaps the most important part in the making of a gold toned vandyke is the toning process. Many gold toned vandykes we see have a kind of purplish look. The color is nice, but unfortunately a purplish color indicates that toning was not done to completion. In toning to completion a very high percentage of the silver metal formed in the original reaction of the silver/iron process is converted to gold, and the image that remains is a beautiful bluish/black. What I recommend for toning is a gold/thiourea toning bath, used one-shot in a flat bottom tray, and discarded after use. The minimum needed to tone to completion is about 30 ml per 8X10 print, but more may be needed if the image has a lot of deep shadows.

It is also important to point out that in testing vandyke, or any other version of vandyke, the use of a step wedge can save tons of time. And also important, final results can only be evaluated by carrying the process through all of the steps, including drying. It is incredibly fascinating how an ugly orangish looking image suddenly transforms itself into a beautiful bluish/black image during gold toning. Like the ugly frog kissed by the lovely princess and turning into a handsome prince.

Sandy

[Peter De Smidt]

That is beautiful work, Sandy.

[sanking]

That is beautiful work, Sandy.

Thanks Peter, really appreciate your remark.

Sandy

[scheinfluger_77]

Sandy I'm assuming this is a contact print?