Cyanotype printing

When I was in Margaret River in Western Australia last year* I did a cyanotype printing workshop. The photos shows you one of my finished pieces. When it works well it creates a strong blue/white image. It is a great process, and very easy. So my friend Gerry and I had a cyanotype day last Sunday.

This is how it goes….

It is a photographic process that uses chemicals exposed to the sun to create the blue effect. The beautiful sunny days we have had recently are perfect.

The first step is to create the photosensitive paper. The chemicals are mixed together and then painted onto the paper. As it is light sensitive this should be done in a dark(ened) room. At the workshop they had made a black box from a cardboard box and black plastic. I simply created mine in a room with the blinds drawn.

The chemicals are available from art shops and online. You simply mix them in equal quantities ~ only capful of each. It goes a long way.

Then you paint the mixture onto paper and wait for it to dry, which didn’t take long on Sunday. Experiment with any paper. Watercolour paper works well as the paper has to be washed at the end of the exposure. At the workshop they had rigged up a nifty drying box, with back plastic curtains. You can see that the paper before exposure to the light is yellow.

Inside the nifty drying box, Margaret River.

Then the fun begins of designing the print. This also needs to be done in a darkened room.

Gerry and I experimented with various flowers and leaves, bits of lace and other bibs and bobs. The main consideration is that the element needs to be flat(ish). Ferns are great, as was the lace. Some leaves and flowers were interesting as they were semitransparent, which allowed some light to come through. After the laying out you cover it with glass and take it out into the light.

This is Gerry’s arrangement, sitting in the sun. You can see how the paper has changed from yellow to rich blue. This only takes a few minutes. You can also see why the elements need to be flat and under glass. The glass not only stops the wind blowing all your good work away, but weighs down the pieces. The finished image has sharper, cleaner edges if they are in direct contact with the paper.

The closest one is mine. I was experimenting with different textures ~ not nearly as pretty as Gerry’s! The paper turns a bronzy colour when is has had enough exposure. We took them inside and washed the paper. This is to wash off the remaining chemicals and stop the reaction. It’s why watercolour paper, made to take water, is better than a paper made of wood pulp.

This is the time you get to see how your work has turned out. Gerry’s worked really well. Can you see how the pelargonium petals have a delicate transparency?

There is a delightful unpredictability about this process, which adds to the fun! And because it is quick you can do a few in a short time.

And why am I experimenting? Well I am going to create a book about lacy things. More about that another time. At the moment I am having a grand time cleaning out my studio playroom. Then I will get to work. It is so nice to feel like creating again.

*I suspect I haven’t told you about that trip. I must, as I think you will enjoy the wildflowers.

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I respectfully acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land on which I live – the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung People of the Kulin Nation, their spirits, ancestors, elders and community members past and present. The land always was, and always will be, Aboriginal land. While this Sunday is Australia day, I will not be celebrating the colonisation of Country