Cyanotype

I had another Art Morning at my friend’s studio. This time we learned how to make a cyanotype. It’s a printing process similar to photography, where a chemically treated surface is able to render an image. Cyanotypes use sun to activate the formula. 
The basic process is fairly simple. In the example above, I used pre-treated fabric from an art supply store. Once you take a sheet from the package you must work fairly quickly in a dim room to lay out your design, in this case, an assortment of plants from the garden. A sheet of plexiglass clamped to the back board kept the whole thing from slipping as it was carried outdoors into the sunlight, where it sat for about a half hour. Then you rinse it really well to make sure all the chemicals are gone so it doesn’t develop any further. And voila, you have a lovely subtle piece to admire.

If you opt to have more control of the process, you can mix your own chemicals and cover pretty much any surface—paper, cloth, wood. For a minute there I was eyeing the little white studio dog—everything becomes a canvas when you’re enthusiastic about a new process!  And you can use so many things as printing material: someone drew on acetate and made a print of her drawing; someone else tried writing a favorite quotation. Film negatives, transparencies, flat objects, stencils—so many possibilities!