First thing we're gonna do is we need to pick some paper. And we're gonna then go ahead and start the process of doing some coating for the initial cyanotype we're gonna do. And we have a number of ways we can coat a cyanotype and there's a number of different papers we can choose from. So I've got, we're gonna coat this paper. This is an Arches Platine paper. It's got a beautiful deckle edge. It comes up in a four size, some of them will actually have a watermark on them, that has the Arches Platine watermark. So one out of every four pages, because they come on a 22X30 sheets that get cut down. This is 11 by 15. This is a Bergger paper, this is Bergger CO2320. That's 320 gram weight. 100% cotton rag paper, but you see no deckled edges. Beautiful paper, works in all processes, people really like it. This is the Rives BFK paper, also a very beautiful paper. Deckle edge on multiple sides. It has a little bit more tooth, so it has a little bit more texture and pull on it. When you feel t...

he paper, it feels like it's got a little bit more of a rough surface. Some papers you can coat both sides of. The Hahnemuhle platinum paper we'll be working with tomorrow, you can coat both sides of that paper. Other papers like the Rives have different tooth on different sides. There actually is an up-side to the paper, that you're gonna wanna coat. And you can feel it. So as you grab the paper, people always wanna know. You usually, in like 99 out of 100 times, you're coating the smoother side of the paper. So if you drag your fingers and you're like well the back feels a little rough, you're gonna coat the front side of the paper. The other way you can tell is if you've got one with the watermarking on it, you wanna be able to read the watermarking correctly. It tells you the correct way. So I actually save one of my watermarked pages and I have that setting aside and for the papers that are a little tougher to tell, that is the guide of touching different ones. The other piece you're gonna have is you're gonna want a smooth and level coating surface. So if your coating surface is not level and you pour the chemistry on there, it'll start to run across the page. So you want it as level as possible, so when you pour the chemistry, it's gonna stay where you actually pour it. Because you wanna be doing the coating process. This is not quite 1/4 inch thick glass. So I just went to a glass supply store and had them cut this piece of glass a little bit bigger than the coating size. And then I had them sand the edges, just so I wouldn't cut my fingers. This gives me a very level surface. And glass doesn't absorb any of the chemistry so if anything spills on it, I can easily just wipe it up, wipe it off and I'm ready to go. What's underneath that, just so you can see, it's on a board that has some measurements for different size negatives. Back in the day when I was using a really thin tissue paper, I could see my coating sizes for my different negatives. So that's what that piece was created for. So, I've got a couple of different coating options. This, right here, which is the brush we're gonna be using, this is a goat hair hake brush, H-A-K-E. And then it's sewn together here with a non-metallic thread. And when you're looking to buy a hake brush, you wanna get one with a non-metallic thread in there. Because if not, you can get a chemical reaction between the metals of the wire that's holding the bristles in. And so you want the nylon thread or the natural fiber thread that's there. The ones that come from Bostick and Sullivan in the kit, are that way. This is actually the brush that comes with the kit for that. You can also use this thing called a puddle pusher or a glass rod coater. So, this is for an 8X10 negative so you can coat with an 8X10, you can't coat anything bigger or smaller, cause that's gonna be your surface coating area. Because the chemistry will wick across the glass rod and then basically, this is used to drag across the paper to spread the chemistry. So you'll go that way, back and forth. We also have ... These are synthetic brushes. This is a Sterling synthetic brush, beautiful brush. This is a, I always say his name wrong. It's a Richeson brush. Both are synthetic pieces. They have this metal part on them. So one of the things I do is I get a clear acrylic fingernail polish and then I just paint that edge and the very tips of the bristles. And that helps the chemistry from being absorbed up or leeching down. Cause these are originally designed for paintbrushes. These brushes are the only brushes I use for my platinum printing. The reason for that is the synthetic brush absorbs significantly less chemistry than the hake goat hair brushes do. Platinum chemistry is exponentially more expensive than other processes, so it just ends up saving a lot of money in the coating process. And I think it also does a beautiful job in the smoothness of the coating. You can absolutely use these brushes for any other alternative process you want and get good results. The brushes are just more expensive.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Alternative Processing Handout.pdf

Grayscale Percentage to RGB Values.pdf

MSDS Saftey Datasheets.zip

Bostick Discount Code.pdf

Matt Cutting Cheat Sheet.xlsx

Step Wedge Creation Spreadsheet.xlsx

Alternative Process Actions.zip

11stepwedge.psd

21stepwedge.psd

50stepwedge.psd

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Daniel Gregory

Daniel Gregory started his career working in the high tech industry. Wanting to have a more creative and passionate life, he left all those zeros and ones behind and

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topics covered in this class

Fine Art Fundamentals Digital Photography

Ratings and Reviews

Diordna

For a long time, I have read, studied and tried alternative processing, mainly Platinum/Palladium printing. I want to create longest lasting prints and may be share the info at Creative Live. But this presentation saved me many a hours. A few minutes into the lecture, I purchased the class and as the class progressed, I was extremely glad. Thank you Creative Live, thank you Daniel Gregory.

SFX

Excellent class on Alt Process and fantastic bonus materials included with purchase!!! I have extensive digital printing and darkroom experience but haven't done much alt-process to date. This is perfect timing for me as I have several personal projects that I would like to re-visit using some of these techniques. Thank you Daniel!!!

James H Johnson

I have been making platinum/palladium prints for about 1 year. This is the 3rd workshop that I have attended. The first two were one on one. Daniel has done a fantastic job of covering the material and explained the process it detail and easy to understand. This course is fantastic and highly recommend it.

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Paper and Brush Types

Paper and Brush Types

Lesson Info

21. Paper and Brush Types

Lessons

Class Introduction

Overview of the Alternative Process

Overview of the Digital Negative Process

Working with Black and White Digital: What You Need

Working With Black and White Digital Images: Color Settings

Working with Black and White Digital Images Lightroom

Working With Black and White Digital Images Photoshop

Working With Black and White Digital Images 3rd Party Plug-ins

Avoiding Key Artifacts

Creating the Step Wedge for Curve Corrections

Organizing Your Adobe® Photoshop® Files and Curves

Setting Up the Printer

Lab Safety and Workspace Set-Up

Setting the Maximum Black Time

Getting the Initial Curve Test Numbers

Correcting the Curve

Printing the Curve

Sharing Curves

Caring for the Digital Negative

Intro to Cyanotypes and Safety