CYANOTYPE PRINTING WORKSHOP
1 or 2 Day Workshop
Cost
The workshop includes all materials and cost would depend on numbers attending.
3 people or more pay £90 each
per day + VAT
2 people pay £135 each
per day + VAT
Individual tuition is £220
per day + VAT
Numbers of participants limited to 4.
Dates are by negotiation.
This one or two day workshop will be an introduction to the Cyanotype printing process. You will learn the history, production techniques and safe handling of chemistry and how to prepare papers ready for exposure.
In a relaxed setting, this workshop will be both informative and instructive and is an accessible introduction to chemical based alternative photography.
The beauty of this process is that the chemistry is cheap, safe to use and when applied to your substrate and exposed, you only require water to develop the exposed images.
The workshop can be tailored to suit your requirements.
QTR & Negative film
I can provide tuition in preparing digital or analogue images for printing onto Pictorico film as negatives. To this end you will be introduced to Quad Tone Rip software and how to create a digital adjustment curve for your image to maximise on a full tonal range when printing with Cyanotype chemistry.
Chemistry
You will be introduced to Classic Cyanotype chemistry and to New Cyanotype chemistry, which can half your exposure times and produce much stronger tones. Integral to the learning process will be the safe handling of chemistry.
Toning
You may wish to learn how to tone your images with natural plants and tannins to create a fuller range of colour in your work.
Wet on wet
If your interest is to experiment with dry or wet on wet cyanotype techniques to create unexpected results in your images, then I can tailor the workshop for you. You will learn to understand the role of natural alkaline or mild acidic compounds to bleach or enhance the cyanotype chemistry. A range of effects, colours and patterns can be achieved.
Cameraless techniques
You will be encouraged to experiment with your compositions and to see what is possible with 2 and 3 dimensional objects without the use of a camera. You will also be encouraged to bring printed negatives, photocopies and any other materials with you to work with.
Fabrics, wood, metals & glass
If you choose to do two days, you will have the opportunity to experiment with different substrates such as fabric, wood or metal, onto which you can print a design of your making. You would be instructed into correct preparations for the different surfaces.
Cliche verre / Hand drawn negatives
We can experiment with different negatives: digital, film and hand drawn negatives on glass.
Ultraviolet Light
If you wish to learn more about different light sources for cyanotype printing, I can talk you through LED, mercury vapour lights, metal halide and the sun's rays.
History & Process
Invented in 1842 by Sir John Frederick William Herschel, an English polymath, Cyanotype is one of the earliest forms of photographic printing. The light sensitive chemistry is based on the salts of iron. The greatest proponent of the process was Anna Atkins (British 1799-1871) the first known female photographer, who created a number of volumes of cyanotype prints recording British algae, ferns and other fauna.
A sheet of paper, cloth or other substrate is brushed with solutions of ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide and dried in the dark. Once dried the substrate is light sensitive and either exposed to sunlight or ultra violet light with objects and materials on top or lain under a negative and contact printed. What is delightful about this process is its ease of use; once exposed to light the substrate is simply washed in water and dried.
A variant of this process was used for a number of years to duplicate architects drawings and known commonly as a blue print.
