Arabia Mountain tree - another bromoil example

[Terri]

Here is a nice example of the different approaches to making a bromoil print. When I was describing the process in this thread, I mentioned I used a brush to apply the lithographic ink and took the print underwater to apply.

Here, I made a couple of matrixes of the same photograph so I could try different methods. (The matrix is a fancy term for the silver gelatin print after it's been bleached out and dried down. It can sit as a matrix almost indefinitely, waiting for the inks to be applied. The silver halides have been bleached out and fixed, so it's technically no longer a silver gelatin print. It's a matrix! Chemistry.)

Arabia Mountain tree - inks applied with a stiff brush and a softer look. For both of these, I had the print dry and flat on a tabletop this time, no water tray:

And here is the result from a different matrix of the same shot - only here I used a soft roller to apply the ink. A somewhat sharper result:

The difference is more obvious on the bottom of the print where there's more photographic details of the rocks and flowers. All comments are welcomed and appreciated - thanks for looking!

 

[Rich53]

Both are nice. I prefer the first, moodier print, but that's me!

--Rich

 

[Enyaw]

echo Rich .. I too like the first as the light is more under control [to me anyway] ..

 

[Terri]

Rich, Wayne - thank you!

Wayne, the first one done with the brush got more ink work in the corners. Kind of like a Holga vignette effect. It gives it more contrast.

 

[Donna T]

Wow Terri! Absolutely amazing work and I could lose myself in both of these images all day. I find them to be so ethereal. The trees, the light ... that's all I need to be mesmerized.

 

[Terri]

Donna, thanks so much! Your words mean a lot.

 

[laika]

I love it! I prefer the first one, with just the right amount of vignetting and the more contast-y sky. What a wonderfully beautiful print!

The matrix is a fancy term for the silver gelatin print after it's been bleached out and dried down.

Ohhh, I didn't know the silver print was the matrix. That makes it sound almost doable, but when will I ever make another silver print? I wonder if there's a way to make a digital matrix? I made a zerographic printing plate years ago and got a decent print of my much-enlarged thumbprint using oil paint as ink. (Too bad it was printed on newsprint.) I recall that it required gum arabic as the only chemistry, maybe as a resist, with the laser toner being the part that printed? Can't remember, but no bromides were involved; other than that, it sounds crudely similar in application.

 

[Artyczar]

Oh my, this is absolutely stunning work Terri! Your techniques and posts are so educational and eye-opening. Thank you for them. They are so helpful and undeniably beautiful. Sometimes, I can't put it into words, but your work really moves me.

 

[Terri]

Thank you, Ayin for such lovely words! I'm happy you like these.

Lamar, thank you! I think there may be some kind of digital process for bromoil if you cruised the internet. The process you describe up there sounds cool! I've never worked with plates.

The tricky part for you would be getting a matrix that mimicked the bleaching part. I mentioned the chemistry up there, and it's a blend of bleaching, plus tanning, the silver gelatin print. The silver halides gets bleached out, and the gelatin gets tanned, and then the print gets washed and fixed again and dries down as a matrix, with only a ghostly image showing. The matrix gets soaked in water before you start inking, and there will be more swelling of the paper in some areas than others after tanning. The ink adheres to harder areas and is repelled by the swollen areas - which, after applying a few layers of ink, will eventually match the tonal ranges of the original exposure. (This is hardly a good technical description, just a broad outline!)

The point is that it would actually be easier to do it if you had someone make you several fiber-based darkroom prints, if you don't have access to a darkroom in your area. The chemistry is actually sold as a set and you can even get it pre-measured. (The folks at Bostick & Sullivan have been great in the past.) You can pick up the chemistry, the ink and brushes - but you do need to begin with a silver-gelatin print because it's part of how it reacts to the chemistry that lets you get to the inking part.

Hope that kinda makes sense and I didn't lull you to sleep.