Cyanotype on Vintage Paper

Join me as I spend the summer learning how to create cyanotype prints in my garden.

In this video I am creating a beautiful silhouette on vintage paper from an old atlas.

I use Jacquard Iron Salts; Potassium Ferricyanide and FerricAmmonium Citrate to create a light-sensitive solution that I brushed on the paper (in the dark). The process is not difficult but it takes planning and time.

I prepare the surfaces ahead of time as drying time can vary from 30 minutes to a few hours.

The surfaces need to be kept in the dark until you are ready to expose it to the sun.

Jacquard has several products available for sun printing.

Planning is key.

I have the dry iron salts so I need to mix them with water. The salts need time to dissolve in water and need to be kept in the dark. There is a pre-mixed kit available from Jacquard.

You need to mix the two solutions together and from that point you need to stay out of the sun. A little goes a very long way. I brushed it on the vintage paper and let it dry. Check out my video below.

Still in the dark corner of my garage, I laid out my leaves, sandwiching the paper between the inside of a frame, with the glass on top. I left it in the sun for 60 minutes.

After drying I quickly move the print out of the sun and dip it in a wash for 4 minutes. Water is the normal wash but I experimented with a tea wash. I simply poured some cold tea in my bucket. The results would probably would be more dramatic on a white paper.

As the print dries it continues to change. I can’t get enough of the those Cyan and Prussian Blue hues.

Join me as I create a Cyanotype print on vintage atlas paper.