Saturday, April 16, 2011

Dyeing for Better Results

I've tried a bunch of different emulsions for my anthotypes. I'm not sure "emulsion" is the correct word, but I can't really come up with a better one. Dyes doesn't seem to fit. Neither does pigments. They're not exactly sensitizers, and that's harder to type out. Emulsions will have to do for the moment. Anyway.

Here are the results
  • fresh blueberry - very pale blue-brown color. poor results after fourteen days. 
  • fresh blackberry - pastel blue-violet color. good results after six days. reacted with moisture to provide a yellow halo.
  • fresh strawberry - pale pink color. acceptable results after six days. reacted with moisture to provide a yellow halo.
  • red wine - pale red-brown color. acceptable results after two days.
  • turmeric - intense yellow color. acceptable results after one day. good results after three days.
  • paprika - pale yellow color. acceptable results after three days.
  • turmeric-paprika mixture - strong orange color, with reddish streaks. good results after three days.
  • turmeric-red wine mixture - same as turmeric, with a faint orange cast.
  • turmeric-red pepper mixture - same as turmeric. red pepper did not have an effect.
  • oak leaf juice - extremely faint green color. did not produce any image after seven days.
  • grape juice - rich violet color. produced only a faintly visible image after six days. the color does not fade enough to show a good image.
  • canned beet juice - rich red-pink color. still in testing.
  • boiled blackberry dye - rich maroon color. produced poor results after fourteen days. the color does not fade enough to show a good image.
  • boiled raspberry dye - rich pink-red color. still in testing.
  • boiled carrot dye - extremely pale orange-yellow color. still in testing, no results expected.
  • boiled spinach dye - extremely faint green color. produced poor results after five days.
Notes

  • Canned beets produce a more "true" pink than raspberries, which are closer to a pale red.
  • If no reaction with moisture is noted, there has been none. 
  • Boiled dyes are created by boiling the plants for half an hour, mashing to a pulp, boiling for another 20-30 minutes and then straining. The resulting color seems far more intense (but less moisture-reactive) than the color produced simply by straining the fruit-pulp without boiling. The boiled dyes also seem to be more light-fast, which produces poorer images.
  • Tumeric, Tumeric-Red Pepper and Boiled Blackberry have been tested on fabric with results essentially the same as on paper. No mordants have been used as of yet.
  • No good Greens have been produced yet. Apparently there are very few reliable green colorants from plant-based materials because they get their color from chlorophyl, which doesn't work well as a pigment. Stupid plants.

Conclusions:
Turmeric is the most reliable, predictable and intense emulsion so far. The problem with it is that the yellow is so intense that it isn't very pleasant to look at it. The intensity of the yellow also blocks out a great deal of detail. I've taken to shifting the hue of turmeric scans so the detail recorded becomes visible. I would like to find a solution that has the qualities of turmeric in a different color. Adding paprika to the turmeric results in a duller, more orange color, but has streaking and striations because the paprika doesn't fully dissolve like the turmeric does.

I'm ordering some indigo and sandalwood online, and looking for some cheap annatto seed powder. I've heard these can all be used to get good results. Indigo produces blue, obviously, while sandalwood and annatto produce oranges. 

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