u/making_jay

I've been experimenting with different factors in anticipation of a few larger projects I have planned. Mostly paper type, amount of solution, application method, contrast in negatives, exposure timing, and type of material of objects. Some interesting results from these tests were worth keeping!

Check out those swirls in the glass wren paperweight! Or the barely visible double sided tape under Eevee's paws. Or the slight wrinkles in the tulip shirt, looking like wind! Some thrifted lace worked ok with the glass wren, but a more sheer and geometric lace ended up making for a great background with the help of a mask (painted wren).

I did think the skulls would let through more light, but that might be because I was using a pretty weak UV LED flashlight. I'll try an even thinner skull with a stronger light source soon, fingers crossed. Hopefully the stronger light source will also help out my chronic under exposure issues...

Apart from over and under exposure issues, I'm finding silk more challenging to work with than cotton. However, silk would just better fit what I'd like to do in future pieces, so I'd love some advice if anyone works with it actively.

I'm finding it hard to get very crisps at times I think due to the sheerness of the material. Light seems to sort of leak through and blur edges. I was thinking heavier glass to hold down, and I saw someone mention using foam underneath to press the fabric up. I had... mixed results. The pictures show my best one so far, even though the exposure is off on both sides. I also saw firsthand the effect of using fresher plants under a transparent pane (fogging galore).

I tried using double-sided tape to bring the material close to the panel around the edges, which seemed to work ok, but is there another way to really press the fabric super close to the panel? For the overexposed side, I was using a thin acrylic panel (couldn't travel with glass!), how much does the different material affect the final print? Is there anything else one could use while travelling that'd be better?

How about sourcing, I'm in Canada and so far it's been eBay habotai silk prestitched scarves, but I was looking to order different types from a Canadian Etsy seller (muga and Georgette silk were tempting). I might be able to hit some thrift stores for scraps to experiment with, and I've seen one or two sellers of recycled or cutoff pieces... Am I missing anything?

Silk is a little pricier to experiment with, so I thought I'd ask for some advice before I went further!

My first cyanotype result I'm proud of! The start of a bird-themed jacket. I wanted to have it done before travelling last week, but the weather wasn't cooperating, so I used a small UV flashlight I had around (uranium glass stuff). After some testing, I settled on about 7 minutes of exposure. I'm using the standard jacquard cyanotype set, fabric is 100% cotton.

The wren is acrylic paint on transparent wrapping paper, with the rest masked with thick cardstock. After exposing once, I removed the cardstock and transparent piece, and placed a cardstock cutout in the silhouette of the bird right where it was exposed. I added the greenery under and over the glass, then exposed a second time for another 7 minutes.

I'm honestly very pleased with the result! I have some tufted titmouses (titmice?) already painted and masked in a similar manner, so I'll be growing the flock further soon. I hope to fully cover it before this first guy starts seriously fading!

Starting with a standard mixed flock with chickadees, nuthatches, juncos, downy woodpeckers, Cardinals, etc. I'm normally very crows- or swallows-oriented, but when I had the idea for a life-sized flock jacket, it was the chickadee-led mixed flocks I thought of first.