Student Cyanotype Beyond the Basics Resources

ABOUT THIS RESOURCES PAGE ...

This page shares information we covered during our workshop, with links to specific supplies and for further research and exploration.

I buy most of my art supplies online, from several different sources depending on who is having a sale, and what I need in my order. I look for overall value in the pricing of the item, delivery cost and quality of service when ordering.

When looking for something specific, I encourage you to shop around for different pricing and sales.

I would love to hear from you if you do source from a different supplier – I am always on the lookout for other options to share with students, and for myself.

I’ve categorised the resource information below. Bookmark this page in your browser so you can keep referring back to it.

And please let me know if you think I’ve left anything out! 🙂

FIRST CYANOTYPE WORKSHOP – RESOURCES

This link will take you to the Resources page for the first Cyanotype workshop attended.

I have repeated some information from that page here.

And that page includes the video instructions on how I mount my paper prints to board for display.

CYANOTYPE CHEMICALS

The chemicals:

  • Solution A – diluted Ferric ammonium citrate (green) > 25g / 100ml water*
  • Solution B – diluted Potassium ferricyanide > 10g / 100ml water*
  • *Distilled water is recommended. I use tank water (rain water). Town water will work, but consider leaving it in a bowl overnight to let the chlorine evaporate out before making your own solution. Make a small batch first, then test and exposure, before you start making a big batch of chemical. This will test that the water is ok.

Below is a reminder of some of the supply sources:

  • Gold Street Studios – ready made kits
  • Vanbar Imaging – ready-made kits
  • Vanbar imaging – to buy the raw chemical in bulk, search their website for “Ferric Ammonium Citrate Green” and “Potassium Ferricyanide”
  • Eckersleys sell Jacquard kit. Search for “jacquard cyanotype kits” to find the best pricing.

BUYING KIT FROM ME
I sell kits to students and at Open Studios:

  • 200ml kits (100ml each of Solution A and B) – $30
  • 400ml kits (200ml each of Solution A and B) – $45

CYANOTYPE REFERENCE BOOKS

Refer back to the first Resources page for other books. Below are the 2 newest books to the library:

CYANOTYPE ARTISTS

My favourite wet cyanotype artists:

And artists working with toning cyanotype:

WET CYANOTYPE EXPOSURE TIMES

You know the exposure times for the traditional blue/white cyanotype. Now you know that when making wet cyanotype, the longer you resist the temptation to put the paper into the washout bath, the more dramatic the result.

Experiment with adding different amounts of water to your coated papers.

Experiment with different exposure times. 2 hours vs 5 hrs vs 2 full days of exposure.

Experiment!

ADD COLOUR TO YOUR CYANOTYPE

Acrylic pigment, watercolour, Solarfast – just some of the ways you can add colour to your cyanotypes.

Mix the pigment with your cyanotype solution before coating your paper, or add it after coating but before exposure. Adjust the cyanotype chemical solution ratios for even more varied results.

Experiment and play!

We had access to the following during our workshop:

TONING CYANOTYPE

We used WASHING SODA (aka soda ash aka sodium carbonate) to bleach our prints.
Ratio – 1% solution = 10g of washing soda per 1L of water

You can vary the ratio to speed up or slow down the bleaching time.

Other bleaching options:

  • Baking soda – start with 1% as above.
  • Chlorine bleach – experiment with ratios to get your desired result.
  • Phosphate based soap/detergent – experiment, same as above.
  • Hard water – water with a high mineral content will bleach a cyanotype.
  • Water – leaving the cyanotype print to soak in any water will, over time, leach the blue.

We used the following TONING agents:

  • Black tea – 35 bags steeped in 4L water. The tea bags were removed after approx 3 hours steeping in the toning bath, and before you starting using that bath to tone your prints.
  • Green tea – 35 bags steeped in 4L water. Again, tea bags steeped for approx 3 hours before removing to use the bath tub.

Other toning possibilities:

  • Coffee
  • Red wine
  • Tannic acid
  • Tannin from tree bark and other botanicals

More information about toning:

Experiment!

PAPER

I provided 2 different papers to print with in the workshop:

Some people bought their own papers. Experiment! If the paper can survive full immersion in water, give it a go!

Below are links to a series of articles talking about paper. Beautiful, delicious, multi-purpose paper, with a focus on Printmaking paper:

BUBBLES

The soap suds bubbles in the workshop was a mix of:

  • approx 1 tblspn cornflouer
  • 3 tblspns dishwashing liquid
  • 1/3 cup glycerine
  • Note: I used a Jamie Oliver’s ‘dash of this and swish of that’ when making up a bubble mix. 🙂

This is the recipe that makes rather robust bubbles – happyhooligans.ca/homemade-giant-bubbles

RECIPES

Below are links to my workshop catering staples. I will have made one of these 2 recipes for your workshop:

ORANGE ALMOND CAKE
ALMOND MARMALADE BISCUITS

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