Code Red!

As I mentioned in Getting Madder and Madder, I attempted to get true reds from the dye by soaking small samples of paper in each of the most promising dye pots. After two days, I retrieved the paper and dried it.

Success! The madder and chalk mixture had produced what I am comfortable labeling as a 'true red' stain. The other colors produced aren't bad, but I can mimic them through other dyes or application methods.

Now, while I am extremely happy to have found a technique that produces a true red, I still have strong reservations about madder root proving to be an effective anthotype material. In all the research I've done, I found that madder root was prized among natural dyes for its light-fastness. That's not a good thing for an anthotype. Light-fastness refers to how well a dye resists breakdown and fading when exposed to sunlight; a very light-fast dye will last a long time without visible fading or discoloration. Since the entire anthotype process is based on using dyes that do break down and fade away when exposed to sunlight, I am afraid that madder root won't give good results.

I still have some hope, because paper holds dyes differently than fabric does and part of the preparation of madder root for a fabric dye involved specific chemicals called 'mordants' which help the dye adhere to the fabric and retain color. Since the best result came from a mixture of madder and chalk, not one of the mixtures that contained alum (a mordant), I still may able to get decent results. The madder might also be affected by both temperature and moisture. When spring rolls around again and I get bright sun and high temperatures again, the results may improve.

There will be a test (already have sheets of paper soaking) to see what can be done during the autumn months, but as I said: expectations are currently low. If a nice result is obtained, that's awesome, but I don't want to build myself up hoping for poppingly red anthotypes only to get a month-long exposure time for a low-contrast, blurry image.