Things I wish had known when I began my cyanotype journey 14 years ago.
Sunderland artist Jo Howell gives us 10 tips that will get you through the cyanotype blues.
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- Blue is the colour that loves the cold. At every point the cyanotype chemistry loves to be cold. This will give you brighter blues. Add ice to your tray to make the water colder.
- Use less chemistry for best results. It can be too easy to be a bit slap dash or heavy handed. You can dab off excess and then go over with your sponge brush to even out the texture.
- Glass clip frames are excellent for contact printing. I prefer glass over plastic. It has the best refractive index for light. The light travels through plastic differently to the glass. If you are struggling to find suitable glass I use clip frames, fridge shelves, display shelves from glass cabinets etc.
- Patience is necessary. Timing is everything. Cyanotype may be super forgiving but you might as well save yourself some heart ache by slowing the whole process down. Don’t expect to go from crystal chemistry to perfect print in a single day.
- Fortune favours the brave. You don’t know until you try. Are you wondering if that cardboard or floaty fabric could hold an image? Just have a go. Unlike black and white photography cyanotype is cheap and fairly non toxic.
- Pegs and string or clothes airers. Don’t use a hair dryer on your print. Cyanotype likes to be cold. Remember point 1. Hang it up using a peg and let the air do its thing.
- Prepare the night before. Have you got a big day where you want to get a lot of prints done? Prepare your paper the night before you go. The cyanotype solution will have now have had time too dry and is easy to carry in a blacked out bag or between book pages.
- Use a dedicated cyanotype tray for washing prints. This sounds obvious but you would have no idea how many baths have been sacrificed needlessly for art. You may be tempted to use your lovely white bath or food sink to clean your prints. Don’t do it. Get a tray.
- Use dedicated trays for toning prints. For exactly the same reasons as above make sure you have a tray that is dedicated to toning your prints. You don’t want cross contamination.
- Hang prints diagonally. You don’t need 2 pegs per print especially if it’s a small print. Peg it on the diagonal and the print will not get water marks and it will dry fairly flat.
There it is. Simple and sweet. Some will already know these tips. Do you have any of your own that we should add to another list?
Let me know in the comments ❤️