Tuesday, October 12, 2010

TrialandError = Progress




Tricks I have discovered that are crucial to printing on canvas with liquid light:
  1. School developer is too strong. I use a 1:13 ratio instead of 1:9.
  2. Stop bath makes spotty prints. Instead I use a weak fixer. So my darkroom setup is: developer, fixer (1:9), fixer (1:4), wash, fixer remover, wash.
  3. Using a prewash to soak canvas before developing helps developer coat canvas evenly.
  4. Safelights in the darkroom need to be turned down all the way and turned away from canvases because liquid light is sensitive to safelights.
  5. Water and chemicals at 70 degrees will be too warm for the emulsion. It will slide right off of the surface. I prevent this with icepacks in my chemical and water baths.
  6. Metal on brushes will contaminate emulsion. Cover metal parts with nail polish.
  7. Sitting too long in a chemical or water bath will make emulsion bubble. For long baths I just hang the canvas over the tray and pour onto it instead.
  8. Print will continue to develop in developer if not taken out when it looks finished.   


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