24 Comments
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George Appletree's avatar

That’s the beginning!

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By Nat's avatar

I believe so! The technician was taking us through beetroot juice, Green tea and coffee 👍🏼

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George Appletree's avatar

Good for toning them

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Susanne Helmert's avatar

Wet cyanotypes are fun too!

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By Nat's avatar

I’ve got the bug now, off to buy my own chemicals :) Any tips gratefully received!

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Susanne Helmert's avatar

Wonderful! Have fun. I am sure you will come up with amazing results. As I said, you don‘t have to wait for the emulsion to dry. You can place objects right onto it. Sprinkle it with salt, turmeric (for yellow spots) or paprika powder (for red sprinkles). Blowing soap bubbles onto the paper before putting in the sun allows for some interesting textures too! 😃

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By Nat's avatar

Fabulous! I love the sound of bubbles, I’ll give these ideas a try. Endless isn’t it!

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Susanne Helmert's avatar

I would add photos, but Substack won‘t let me…

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Donn Dobkin's avatar

Looks like great fun!

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By Nat's avatar

It really is! Alternative processes are eye opening :)

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Paolo Peralta's avatar

These are gorgeous

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By Nat's avatar

Thanks, Paolo

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Marie A Bailey's avatar

Wow, thanks for sharing the process. The prints are beautiful!

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By Nat's avatar

Thanks, Marie, and a lot of fun too

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Jocelyn Lovelle's avatar

Ooooh. I love cyanotype! Thank you for sharing these. What a delight.

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By Nat's avatar

Thanks so much —hope you’ll have a go!

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Jocelyn Lovelle's avatar

I’ve thought about it. Maybe this will inspire me to do it!❤️

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Janelle Hardacre's avatar

I need to try this :)

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By Nat's avatar

You DO!

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Rebecca Holden's avatar

Fabulous post! I'd booked to go on a cyanotype course in May but sadly it was cancelled. I do have some ready-made cyanotype paper, though, and a couple of weeks ago I dug it out for the first time to have a play - I found it absolutely fascinating!

Loved everything you've said about the process here - thank you for such a terrific post.

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By Nat's avatar

Thanks Rebecca. It’s magical seeing it develop in front of you! I think the mini kits are around £20 💪🏼

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Rebecca Holden's avatar

Awesome, isn't it? The ready-made paper I've been using is lovely - it was from Etsy, I think, and was handpainted so it's got some super streaks!

One day I'd like to do a course from scratch (getting to know the chemicals, working with fabric, paper and existing art), but as soon as summer arrives (my experiments were on a rare sunny day a couple of weeks ago!) I'm going to sunprint everything I find using the paper I have!

Here's the report of my initial foray: https://rebeccaholden.substack.com/p/157-studies-in-scarlet - don't be fooled by the name - there's some blue in there too, LOL! 😂

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By Nat's avatar

These are beautiful; I do love your art. You’re far more ahead than I am. Just gorgeous 🍓

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Rebecca Holden's avatar

Awwww Nat, you’re so kind! Thank you. 😘

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