Gum arabic

[R Shaffer]

Loris, I've looked far and wide and I cannot find any powdered gum like that available in Instanbul! Everything else is crap by comparison. so your instructions, I'm afraid, are wasted on those of us in the US. I've gone back to using the cheap black stuff from Daniel Smith. But I really do miss mixing up that good powdered stuff. I've saved an inch-worth just to show people how "good gum" is supposed to look.

How about the powdered stuff that Bostick & Sullivan sells? It is expensive. I'm just curious as I use their 14 baume and I am very happy with it.

[GumPhoto]

How about the powdered stuff that Bostick & Sullivan sells? It is expensive. I'm just curious as I use their 14 baume and I am very happy with it.

Sorry, I guess I haven't tried it. If its from B&S, though, I'm sure it must be good. I wish I had read this yesterday - I just placed an order with them!

I like using the powder stuff because I can make it super-thick. Basically, I force as much into solution as I can get. No idea what the baume is, but it is essentially a saturated solution, if that term can be used for a colloid.

[michael9793]

Hello Stephen:

Although I do not use the brand of gum you indicate (Roberson), I have seen work from other artists who do use that particular gum. I suspect the gum is fine. You might try different pigments—OR—back off on your exposure a bit—OR—rework the density of your negatives—OR—put a bit of ammonia in the wash to help clear the print.

If you want a thicker gum solution, try heating the gum over very, very, low heat to evaporate some of the water out from the gum. Hope that helps.

I do find it a bit unnerving to give advice over the web since I have nothing visual to go by, no before and after shots to examine, and no video giving me an idea of your working technique. So this is just general advice based on 23 years of gum printing. You can see my work and articles at alternativephotography.com.

Cheers

Peter J. Blackburn

Peter I have read your work on that site and want to say thank you for all the work you put into it. I'm going to start doing 4 color dichromate printing and your advise was very helpful. I have been printing Pl/Pt for a long time and need something a little different to spark some new interest. The thing is I have been shooting in B&W for 40 years and looking for color work is also a new challenge.
regards
Michael Andersen.