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 Making my own Cyanotype mixture and testing it:


This was my first time making my own mixture with chemicals that I had bought myself and not borrowed from college. I had to look back at images form my first year so that I could get the correct measurements for this process. I mixed 10g of Potassium Ferricyanide with 100ml of water and 25g of Ammonium Citrate with 100ml of water, and then used this small amount to coat 4 sheets of mixed media paper to use as tests to make sure that I measured the correct amounts. 

For these tests I used the new acetates that I had readjusted and manipulated on photoshop. I decided to use the four that I was most unsure about in terms of their contrast and transparency and then I would be able to decide whether to use them on my final work or not. 

I left these cyanotypes out in my back garden for about 30 or 40 minuets to give them the best chance to be exposed to the sunlight and then washed them off in cool water and left them to dry. I have found that when wet the image always looks darker and some of the details appear to have been lost but once they are dry the image is much more clear. 

When looking at the dry cyanotypes I noticed that three out of the four seemed to be quite dark and the image was slightly difficult to see, I had previously tried to improve the contrast of these photographs on photoshop to avoid this but it unfortunately didn't work. I think that the original images were to dark and lacked the initial contrast to be able to use them for an effective cyanotype. I also noticed that there were silhouettes of the rocks that I used to weigh the acetates down, this is something that I'll have to find a solution for in the future. I've used a perspex sheet before which seemed to work well so my plan is to get some smaller sheets that are A4 size to weigh each individual acetate. 

At this point I think that I will have to discard the three acetates that didn't work as I don't believe that I am able to adjust them any further, but I still have lots of images that I can test and work with so I'm still feeling confident about the progress of this project. 









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