Chrysotype Prints with Christina Z Anderson
CHRYSOTYPE
The chrysotype (from Greek chryso/gold and typos/strike or print) is a photographic print made from the actual “noble” metal gold, resulting in colors ranging from pink, violet, magenta and purple, to green, blue, grey, and black. Though Sir John Herschel invented the process in 1842, his way of practicing it was unstable, difficult, and expensive, and it never became part of the photographic canon in the 1800s. Platinum/palladium, arriving on the scene around 1873, got a 100-year leg up on the chrysotype to become thenoble metal photographic process we all know and love today.
A century and a half after Herschel, Dr. Mike Ware from England invented a user-friendly chrysotype method and that is what you will learn in this workshop. The process is fairly simple, a bit more forgiving in practice than platinum-palladium, and just plain fun! Come join us and become one of the growing number of photographers who practice this process worldwide. Bring your favorite digital images—even those from a cell phone will work—and be prepared to make intriguing, colorful prints.
- No prior knowledge of the chrysotype process is required.
- No prior knowledge of alternative processes is required though always helpful.
- No prior knowledge of digital negatives is required though always helpful.
- Participants should come with beginning knowledge of Photoshop (e.g. editing an image, sizing an image, saving it as a TIFF to a USB flash drive); no need to edit images beforehand—we will talk about image editing in the workshop.
Expect to go home with finished prints, but please note this workshop is for learning and experimentation, not for making prints for exhibition.
In this class you will learn:
- Equipment and materials to set up your home workspace
- How to create a simple digital negative for the process with a Photoshop curve (if QuadToneRIP-savvy, I will provide quad files for you to put on your laptop, if desired)
- Suitable paper selection
- Step-by-step directions for mixing and storing chrysotype chemistry
- Coating, exposing, and processing the print
- Changing color with pre- and post-exposure humidity
- Troubleshooting chrysotype
COURSE SCHEDULE
Every workshop is dependent on the number and expertise of students involved. We will be mixing chemistry and discussing the process the first day and preparing images for negatives. After that we will be printing each day as we see fit, learning the process’ nuances as we go along, with a dose of troubleshooting every day.
First day: Setting up the darkroom and mixing chemistry; preparing images for negatives; coating paper.
Second day: printing images; observing pre- and post-humidifying effects.
Third day: printing, different developer effects, troubleshooting
SUPPLIES, REQUIRED AND OPTIONAL
- Supplies will be bulk-purchased ahead of time to save money and time, provided during the class, and are included in a course fee.
- Bring your own laptop along with lots of images to choose from
- Bring an inexpensive USB flash drive
- Make sure your cell phone has a stop watch on it, or bring a timer
- Bring a hand towel or two (an apron also if you feel you need one)
- 8.5x11 plastic notebook sleeves to store and protect negatives to take home with you is really helpful.
OPTIONAL
- If desired, I will have available for purchase (~$50) my favorite Japanese 2˝ synthetic stitched brushes; I have to order these from Japan a month ahead so please let me know via email before the workshop and I will distribute them at the workshop.
- To read about the process before and after the workshop, purchase McPhee, Leanne. Chrysotype: A Contemporary Guide to Photographic Printing in Gold. New York: Routledge, 2021; it is filled with wonderful artist examples who use the process regularly.
Mountain Intaglio's patented beanies and berets course rating:
Beanies:
Berets:
General workshop policies and information can be found here.
There will be space for up to 5 participants in this workshop.
Location
All of our workshops are given at our studio, located at:
96 Weaverville Rd. Suite 108
Asheville NC 28804
