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I’m discovering a really amazing photographic process called anthotype! It was first developed in the 1840’s. It uses photosensitive materials from plants to create prints. I will add photos of my experiments to this thread. #anthotype #altprocessphotography
I’m discovering a really amazing photographic process called anthotype! It was first developed in the 1840’s. It uses photosensitive materials from plants to create prints. I will add photos of my experiments to this thread. #anthotype #altprocessphotography
Last night in a blender I puréed peppermint. Because the leaves were red underneath the final emulsion (photosensitive material applied to the paper) came out brownish. Complimentary colors mixed = mud. I painted 4/5 coats bores I went to bed. Dried over night.
This was a print exposed in full sun for 8+ hours. (It was a bright sunny spring day at my house).
Creeping myrtle (commonly known in Europe as periwinkle, yes that’s where the name of the color comes from) is an invasive species in SE Connecticut. The rightful Indigenous homeland of the Pequot people. I collected the periwinkle flowers to use for tonight’s emulsion.
Instead of a blender I used a mortar and pestle to mash the flowers. I use tsp amounts of water and rubbing alcohol to create the emulsion. The last time used this mortar was to grind cochineal so that will also affect the color. Waiting an hour before straining was suggested.
The cochineal really affected the color. Turning it much more red. There’s more periwinkle tho so I’ll try to get the pure color now that the mortar is clean. Here’s the mash that I will strain. The liquid will be the emulsion for my prints.
Straining.....ugh this process takes a lot of patience. But it’s really exciting to think about people in the 1840’s discovering photographic technology. Wow! This mauve is a very nice hue.
I like to use a variety of papers to see how the emulsion and process works with different materials. Here I have a cotton blend resume paper, Stonehenge printimaking paper (lgt blue), Bristol board, and two pieces of my upcycled handmade paper (made about 2 weeks ago).
After 5 coats. Letting them dry overnight. Something weird is happening with the stonehendge and the cotton resume and upcycled round papers seem to be the most promising. Good night, I’m putting these out to expose in about 11 hours.
Update: woke up this morning to rain and clouds, should clear by midday. One of the things I’ve come to appreciate about #altprocess #photography is that it makes one more aware of the natural world. It’s a wonderful way to slow your practice if you’re feeling overwhelmed.
Curious about #altprocess
If you’d like to participate in a snail/mail virtual cyanotype workshop with me you can contact me through http://blueencounters.org
If you’d like to participate in a snail/mail virtual cyanotype workshop with me you can contact me through http://blueencounters.org
Sign up by May 16th and receive a cyanotype kit in the mail. All materials left over from a grant project I did last year. FREE AND ALL AGES. Donations are welcome and will help fund programming for people in recovery and youth arts programs.
Well the sun came out and it’s going to be 2 more days of sun. This will be a 20+ hour exposure over 3 days. Wow. A slow process, but hoping the results will be worth the wait. Summertime exposures will be one day perhaps???
Anyone interested in doing this in your own homes here’s a great link to start with. If you can purchase the book or donate. The Alt process community is very generous but our resources are not unlimited. http://www.alternativephotography.com/category/processes/anthotypes/
May have sabotaged my experiment with not cleaning out the cochineal. The fading isn’t happening much because the conchinesl dye is more colorfast....so these may be week long exposures. 22.5 hours and counting....may attempt a batch with turmeric.
So here’s the thing about my artistic practice: it’s chaotic. I’m not good at keeping track of measurements or time or replicating exacting processes. I cannot teach ya how to be a technical artist. But I love materials and artistic experimentation. So I’m going to keep trying.
I also have a batch of sweet wild mint growing that is VERY green. I’m hoping to make a true green emulsion with it in a few weeks.
(Pics A, B taken today, C, D taken Sunday)There is almost zero color change and I’m trying not to get discouraged. Wil and I decided to wait one moon from the full 
to see the color change. Next week I’ll try to make Golden prints with Tumeric
to see the color change. Next week I’ll try to make Golden prints with Tumeric
This is what comes in the Cyanotype kit. I’m mailing the first batch out on Friday/Saturday. Thanks to a few generous donations I can mail multiple kits to homes with multiple kids. Also teachers I’ll send you a kit for virtual teaching. #cyanotype #altprocessphotography
Update: I needed one of my frames for printing cyanotype, but when I looked at the color change there did seem to be some photographics at work. Leaving the other frame as is and waiting to see. I’m also using a UV box I built a few years ago at night to speed up the process.
Testing a hypothesis....yeah artists do that too *ahem* When I make herbal salves I freeze them the day before because it releases the oils and makes a more intense salve. It also is a much brighter green so I did the same to the mint I’m using for the next test.
Will definitely test turmeric later this week but I harvested mint this weekend.
Update on the accidental cochineal experiment...hard to tell if there’s much fading but I think so. We will open these up on the Solstice! 
the waaaaiting is the hardest part
the waaaaiting is the hardest part
New flowers. Some brilliant magenta azaleas & violets! Both look promising. Though I’ll only get one coating of the purple
which is a little intimidating. If I can get that deep rich tone tho I might just cry. 
which is a little intimidating. If I can get that deep rich tone tho I might just cry.
Violets are fave favorite flower. A few varieties grow wild around our house. Every time we built a garden box I transferred them somewhere safe. I really debated wether to use them for this. So I waited until the flowers began to wilt a little. It’s the end of their bloom.
Also mint is a bust. It just turns brown. Consulted a friend and that happens. It’s oxidation. Good to know I can give up the ghost, but I really wanted minty photos 
This is truly an odd result. This process is confounding me right now. Azalea produces this color liquid.
But this color emulsion???
And looks like this when you paint it in tho
And this is what violet turned out as....weird
I’ll have to see what they look like dry, but the azalea at least looks dark enough to attempt a print. So we’ll see how quickly they fade tomorrow. 
Well this was the final dried color. Honestly I did not know what to expect this morning. This process is so unpredictable. It’s made me realize I may have gotten a little comfortable in my printing practice. Leaving these in the sun all day. Already seeing a color change.
The above pictures are: 1. Final dried emulsion with a dozen or more coats (lost count), 2. 12+ coats, 3 coats, & one coat on marbled paper, 3. in the frame no exposure, 4. at 9:41 AM EST. (Put outside around 7AM)
Some positive results. It’s really hard to see but these leaves were exposed for 3-4 hours yesterday. I’ve left the rest to expose for the next few days. Exciting. Saving turmeric for next week. #altprocess #anthotype #plantbasedphotography #ecoart
Also testing some hand draw text for a Cyanotype mural using Emily Dickinson’s ‘hope is the thing’ printed on vintage pillow cases hand embellished by a friends grandmother. #cyanotype #poetry #mural
While I’m waiting on my anthotypes (and as a balm to my artistic ego) I’m printing some big Cyanotypes with a rig made by my amazing partner (who is mostly not on social media) but shout out to the partners who love and support their artists even if they don’t always ‘get’ it
PS. I burnt both these Cyanotypes because the sun was super strong and I was distracted but they still came out. Cyano is so forgiving to this ADHD artist. So grateful to discover this process.
Well. Here is the results of azeala flowers. This is a 3 DAY exposure. Kinda disappointed. Going to regroup with this experiment. Gonna do some research, improve my technique & try again in the summer. Thanks for following this project. #anthotypes #altprocess #photography
