siobhan1 Posted April 6, 2005 Share Posted April 6, 2005 Does anyone have a recommendation for the best paper to use for Van Dyke printing? And how about sizing? I have some Crane's Kid Finish I thought I'd try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don_mckeith Posted April 7, 2005 Share Posted April 7, 2005 I've used the Cranes Kid finish,gelatin sized, cornstarch sized, and( my favorite )- 50/50 size of cornstarch and albumen which is a semi-matt(eggshell-go figure)finish,all with good success.I also have used Arches Aquarelle,both hot and cold pressed,and the Fabriano Artistico with good success. I had a few problems with the Rivers BFK,but that could have been a batch problem(or my problem)-I wouldn't rule it out- As to the "best"- like enlarging paper,film,developer,etc,that's a matter of personal preference.Try as many as you can . If you haven't read this yet,it's a good place to start- http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Vandyke/vandyke.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siobhan1 Posted April 7, 2005 Author Share Posted April 7, 2005 Is sizing always necessary - are there some papers that don't require sizing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colmmccarthy Posted April 7, 2005 Share Posted April 7, 2005 I've used Arches 140 and 300 lb hot pressed and Fabriano Artistico with pretty good results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colmmccarthy Posted April 7, 2005 Share Posted April 7, 2005 Sizing prevents the paper from absorbing too much liquid. Paper that's sized will give you more even results, less buckling, and save on liquid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christian_harkness Posted April 7, 2005 Share Posted April 7, 2005 I've used Arches 90 lb cold press with excellent results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don_mckeith Posted April 7, 2005 Share Posted April 7, 2005 Siobhan- I've uses both the Arches and Fabriano hot pressed unsized with good results,the cold pressed and rough do better sized(at least for me).Cranes without sizing is a waste of time,imo. Once I get my sizing solution mixed up,I coat a whole box of Cranes in less than 1 hr.(a little longer if I'm doing matt albumen)I dry them in the microwave as I'm coating,and put them back in the box-then I don't have to worry about sizing everytime I print. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martin_pistor Posted April 8, 2005 Share Posted April 8, 2005 Hi Siobhan, coming from Cyanotype to VanDyke I felt, that VanDyke worked on nearly everthing (especially the papers, that didn't like Cyanotype). For the Cyanotype reason (solution easily reacts with any chemical residue in the paper) I plan to only stock Arches Aquarelle (300g/100% cotton rag). Its available in grain torchon (I'd say to deep structured for any printing, but a matter of taste), grain fin (with VanDyke and similar shows a structured surface) satinee/hot pressed, nearly as smooth as copy paper and Platin, even a little more even, you get results nearly as even as with stock FB gelatine paper. Choose the surface considering your subject. Technical/architectural likes contrast but no structure, softer things like foliage landscapes or portraiture fits structure. Id suggest you try the Cranes, the Arches is just easily available to me. Have fun. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_lovell Posted April 12, 2005 Share Posted April 12, 2005 A paper that I like very much for van dyke, is St Armond 100% cotton rag, it is a hand made paper from montreal, CA. I really like the rough look of it. it is a fairly heavy paper, and it also works well with cyanotype. As anyone will tell you it is all personal preference. In fact sometimes something that someone else likes, will be of no interest to you. Everything is dependant on your finished print. I think the best thing I ever did was to buy a sheet of several different papers at the local studio store and tried several very nice papers until if ound one that screamed at me... - Dan Lovell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliver_tan1 Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 Was just doing some VanDyke prints earlier. Any paper will do as long as it's archival (if you want it to last a long time). It's how you want the image to project. Rougher surface - less detail, smoother surface - more detail. Play around with different types of paper. I sometimes coat brown paper bags or newspaper (not archival). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christian_harkness Posted April 13, 2005 Share Posted April 13, 2005 Hi Oliver, I don?t quite agree that any paper will do. I used some watercolor paper a while ago, I think it was Stonhenge ? not sure though ? and the VanDyke image would almost totally bleach out during and after processing. I think I posted a question about this on this forum, and the consensus seemed to be that the sensitizing solution was reacting with some chemicals in the paper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_drake1 Posted October 18, 2005 Share Posted October 18, 2005 Here is link to another excellent article at the unblinkingeye site for papers: http://unblinkingeye.com/AAPG/Papers/papers.html david drake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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