Made these sunprints quickly, whilst the sun actually shone in Cardiff this week!

Though I have previously done cyanotypes using the rather toxic chemicals, see below, I needed a method which I could transport this summer on a ferryboat and was not sure they would allow me to take the acids onboard. Better safe than sorry!

I decided to have a go at using childrens’ packs of Tobar sunprint paper and these are the results. The paper is thin, unlike the Fabriano I used for my cyanotypes, but is fine for playing around with.

I used leaves, my own hand cut paper stencil, dried flowers, lace & wire to create the designs. It took a while to get exposure how I wanted and I had to press the paper between heavy books to get it to lie flat afterwards as it wants to curl up around the edges. The trick is to get it to dry at an even speed all over.

Here you can see the process and final results.

during exposure

immediately after exposure

into the water for a minute

developing, the tones reverse blue to pale, pale to blue

drying off after developing.

Cyanotypes

I made these earlier in the spring, in our print workshop in Cardiff. Used a mixture of Ferric Ammonium Citrate green and Potassium Ferric Cyanide painted onto Fabriano paper and exposed under a sunbed as it was not sunny enough outside.

I used my own hand cut stencils, lace, feathers, leaves to make the designs, then collaged & mounted them onto 3 wood panels.

I drew & painted here & there with watercolour pencil and did some relief printing on top with lace dipped into gold acrylic.

The range of tones and blues differ a lot, some had hydrogen peroxide added to the wash bath, resulting in a deeper less turquoisey blue. Some were left wet for longer and came out misty grey indigo colour.

Two techniques for this photographic process. The kiddies packs are a lot simpler to use. Could do with a source of ready coated good quality paper for artists.