University of the Arts
Van Dyke Brown printing and Cyanotype printing Workshop
Instructor: Sandra C. Davis
In this workshop you will be introduced to the Vandyke Brown process and the Cyanotype process, which can
be applied to artists papers, fabrics and wood.
THE VDB PROCESS:
1. In a low lit area: Paint the solution onto the surface, with a Hake or sponge brush.
Avoid brushes with metal ferrules.
2. Allow to dry or blow dry.
3. Place light resist on top
Optional: press with heavy glass or put into a contact frame if the light resists are flat
– This will make a sharper image.
4. Expose to Ultra-violet light
1.5 – 2 minutes in full sun (times vary) (Exposure times with digital negatives can be up to 15 minutes.)
Image begins to print out, turning brown.
Full tonal range is achieved when the almost highlight appears as a slight tone.
When using an ultraviolet exposure unit, you can design a test strip, to be more accurate.
5. Remove light resist, place into a tray of fresh tap water. Agitate for 2 minutes.
6. Place into DILUTE* paper strength Fixer. Agitate for 2 minutes.
Mix Sodium Thiosulfate from the kit OR: Mix standard paper strength fixer and dilute 1:20
7. Wash in running water for 10 minutes.
8. Hang to dry
THE CYANOTYPE PROCESS:
1. In a low lit area: combine solution A: Ferric Ammonium Citrate with solution B: Potassium Ferricyanide in
equal parts (4 mls total will coat an 8 x 10 sheet of paper)
2. Paint the solution onto the surface, with a Hake or sponge brush.
3. Allow to dry or blow dry.
4. Place light resist on top
Optional: press with heavy glass or put into a contact frame if the light resists are flat
– This will make a sharper image.
5. Expose to Ultra-violet light
20 – 35 minutes in full sun (times vary) (Exposure times with digital negatives can be up to an hour.)
Image begins to print out, turning blue.
A rich dark Prussian blue is achieved when the darkest areas are appear to be solorized,
(beyond blue, beyond dark blue – a silvery sage color).
When using an ultraviolet exposure unit, you can design a test strip, to be more accurate.
6. Remove light resist, place into a tray of fresh tap water. Agitate for 2 minutes.
Or until all of the yellow washes out.
7. Dip into a tray of dilute hydrogen peroxide (one capful in a tray of water).
If you want to darken the cyanotype.
8. Wash in running water for 10 minutes.
9. Hang to dry
SAFETY: Before reaching for the bottles containing the liquid chemistry, put on gloves! If traces of silver
nitrate or other chemistry are on the bottle, your bare fingers will be stained and burned. If you should get any
on your skin, wash the afflicted area with cool water. Protect your eyes by wearing glasses instead of contact
lenses. Consider using goggles or a face shield if you don’t wear glasses — at least until you feel confident
applying the chemical solutions. If any solution ends up in your eye, use the emergency eyewash station or
flood the afflicted eye with water and seek medical attention. Clean up all surfaces. An invisible film of
poisonous chemistry left on the coating area could hurt someone else.
SUPPLIES FOR PRINTING ON YOUR OWN:
• Van Dyke solution and/or cyanotype solution
• Fixer for black and white gelatin silver prints (for VDB printing)
• Brush with no metal ferrule (Hake brush or sponge brush)
• Substrates
• Trays (not metal)
Van Dyke and cyanotype solutions are available from: Bostick and Sullivan: http://www.bostick-sullivan.com/
>Alternative Process Kits
> Vandyke Brown Kits
Vandyke Brown Kit – 100ml - Kit Contains: Enough to make fifty 8 x 10 prints
100 ml - Vandyke Brownprint Solution and 250 g - Sodium Thiosulfate fixer
Price: $29.95 + shipping
> Cyanotype Printing Kit - 250 ml
Kit comes dry, pre-measured in bottles. Just add water to dissolve. No messy powders!
Makes 200-250 8"x10" prints on paper. The perfect kit for first time printers!
Price: $32.95 +shipping
Also available in combination kits. Also see other resources for other places you can buy these chemicals.
SUBSTRATES: Substrates should be natural, no acids, no additives such as whiteners
PAPERS: Papers with good wet strength. Cotton or rag watercolor papers: Canson or Fabriano
NOTE: (Arches papers have some issues with buffering agents added to the papers and can cause the Van
Dyke Brown and cyanotype to “speckle”). If you want to work on arches paper – presoak it in a tray or pan and
hang it to dry on a line. Allow to fully dry before coating with chemistry.
• Printmaking papers: Utrecht brand American Masters, Cranes (Stonehenge - may having buffering issues,
Cranes), (Rives BFK, Arches Cover will have the same speckling issue, but can be used if presoaked)
Note: Rives 88 and Rives lightweight have issues if soaked too long.
• Strathmore drawing paper works (not the sketch paper).
• Colored papers: Canson Mi-Tientes, Utrecht brand Miliani, Daler-Rowney Murano Fine Art Papers
AVOID: Newsprint, Cardboards, Construction papers, most Rice Papers.
• One translucent paper that works well and looks like rice paper is Mulberry.
NATURAL FABRICS: Fabrics should be pre-soaked before printing. Don’t use detergent.
Some options are: 100% cotton muslin or 100% silk. You may want to try printing on a colored fabric or an
existing printed fabric as well.
AVOID: 50/50 cotton, rayon, poly-anything. If you have you are not sure what it is, bring it and we’ll see.
Note: Fabrics can be worn after washing in Woolite or shampoo. Don’t wash in detergent.
WOOD: Wood panels: birch ply wood (best) pine plywood, natural pine craft plaques
AVOID: thin balsa wood, pressure treated wood
RESISTS TO PRINT FROM:
This process is a contact printing process. That means that whatever you bring to print from, will be
“reproduced” same size. It will be laid on the light sensitive paper and exposed allowing light to pass through
it. We will not be using the enlargers in the darkroom.
Non- Photo-based options for light resists:
1. Found objects can be anything such as botanicals (leaves, flowers); fibers - such as lace, tulle, doilies,
string, thread, yarn, translucent papers; cut glass, glass beads, or just about anything that has some properties
of translucency. (One of my previous students made a “landscape” made by using layers of torn toilet paper.)
The objects you choose should have areas that have different degrees of density. For example: If you hold a
leaf up to the light, you can see the veins are thicker than the rest of the leaf. Green leaves will allow more
light to come through to show off veins, rather than red leaves or dead leaves. Yellow and purple flowers will
be more translucent than red flowers.
Note: when working with printed images from a publication or money that is printed on both sides, you will
get a combination of both of the images resisting the light.
2. Monochromatic tonally rich drawings or washes on mylar or tracing paper. If you make a line drawing,
the line will hold back light and the image will print as a negative. Meaning: a white line drawing on a brown
background.
You can draw as a negative. That means the highlight areas should be black and the shadow areas should
remain “clear”, unless working in abstract. For example: a portrait drawing/wash done in the negative would
have the whites of the eyes as solid black, with the tip of the nose being near black and the pupils of the eyes
left clear.
Note: Do not mix opaque white to lighten the areas of a wash drawing because what you are attempting to do
with the wash or drawing, is imitate a photographic negative: CLEAR and black. Opaque light will block light.
PHOTOGRAPHIC NEGATIVES:
Large format black and white negatives: 4” x 5” or 8” x 10”
Medium format black and white negatives: (120 film) 2 1/4”
35mm black and white negatives can be used, but they cannot be enlarged.
NOTE: color negatives processed Color (C-41 process) negatives cannot be printed through the amber base.
DIGITAL NEGATIVES: (See additional handout.)
PLACES TO BUY CHEMICALS:
http://www.bostick-sullivan.com/
http://stores.photoformulary.com/StoreFront.bok
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/
http://www.freestylephoto.biz/ - For supplies and check the Photo-know-how
Silk: Dharma Trading Company: http://www.dharmatrading.com/ Scarf blanks, clothing blanks
Pre-coated fabrics: https://www.blueprintsonfabric.com/
SUGGESTED READING:
• A Non-Silver Manual by Sarah Van Keuren
Available for free download at: http://www.alternativephotography.com/wp/processes/kallitypes/a-nonsilver-manual-vandyke-brown
• The book of Alternative Processes by Christopher James
• Gum Printing and other Amazing Contact Printing Processes by Christina Z. Anderson
SUGGESTED WEBSITES:
http://www.alternativephotography.com/ - See Galleries and Processes how-to, Books, Suppliers
http://unblinkingeye.com/ - Technical articles & formulae
http://www.digitaltruth.com - Good source for supplies, film developing info, links to other sites
http://www.photoeye.com/ - books and gallery
http://www.danburkholder.com - digital negatives, other alternative process info