AF Cyanotype High School Lesson
14
CYANOTYPE
TIPS:
PREPARING FOR YOUR CYANOTYPE:
* Use the "Rule of Thirds" and Elements/Principles of Art.
* Think about your composition BEFORE exposing!
* Balance * Texture * Value
* Repetition * Shape * Line
For photo prints: Pick a photograph. Invert in Photoshop and turn to black and white. Increase contrast. Print on transparent vellum.
Ask Ms. Rapp for help with printing.
For "Ray-o-graphs"/Photograms:
Find your objects or cut paper that you would like to put on the paper. Whatever blocks out the light, will leave a white shape, and the outside of it will turn blue as it exposes.
Take a photography class for further exploration!
Our Paper
A BRIEF HISTORY
Alessandra Hull
Printing
* Discovered by Sir John Herschel in 1842.
* Anna Atkins used the cyanotype to help her botanist father record specimens.
We will get to use ready-to-go cyanotype paper.
It is light-sensitive,so we keep it in the light-proof black bag until we are ready to use it.
Objects or negatives are placed on the material to make a print.
The cyanotype is printed using the sun.
- Exposure time is approximately 10 minutes (SUNNY).
- Place objects on top of material, place plexiglass on top of both, clamp/tape.
- When placing out in the sunlight, your blue, uncovered surfaces will eventually turn to a silvery-green/blue when it is properly exposed.
What do you need to do?
Processing and drying
TO MAKE A NEGATIVE OF A DIGITAL IMAGE IN PHOTOSHOP
IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS > INVERT
Your negative should have strong contrast.
PRINTED ON TRANSPARENCY PAPER
Choose one of your photos from the and make a digital negative of it.
- OR -
Gather materials to do a photogram.
After exposure the material is processed by simply rinsing it in water.
• You'll want to rinse the cyanotype in cool water for 10-15 minutes, until the water is no longer yellow, but running clear.
- A white print emerges on a blue background.
- An additional rinse with hydrogen peroxide makes the blues stronger.
- The final print is dried and admired.
- Make sure you keep the paper in darkness before and after exposure!