Make Cyanotype Prints

Cyanotype prints are photographs characterized by their easily recognized blue tones. The process offers a way to make pictures with minimal equipment and chemistry. Make your own cyanotype prints at home with this guide from Paper Conservator Tatiana Cole. With adult supervision, artists as young as 6 can make their own prints.

A BIT OF HISTORY

Sir John Frederick William Herschel (British, 1792-1871) introduced the cyanotype photographic process approximately three years after William Henry Fox Talbot announced his discovery of photography on paper.

The cyanotype process was primarily used from the 1880s Harrington, C.S., View from the Train to the 1950s as a simple, inexpensive method of producing Despatchers [sic] Office, 1898. Cyanotype. Boston & Albany R.R. - blueprints without a camera. It was also a popular way to Boston Yard Collection. Boston document botanical specimens. Athenæum.

The cyanotype process was used to make quick proofs of negatives before an image was printed using other more expensive processes using silver or platinum. It was not considered acceptable for portrait or landscape photography.

Read more: Schaaf, Larry. Out of the Shadows: Herschel, Talbot & the Invention of Photography. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992.

See more: View cyanotypes of the Boston and Albany Railroad Company’s Boston Yard and the construction of South Station in the Boston Athenæum’s digital collections.

ABOUT THE CYANOTYPE PROCESS

The cyanotype process is based on the light-sensitive properties of iron. Two soluble iron compounds—potassium ferricyanide and ferric ammonium citrate—are mixed together with water and used to coat a surface with natural fibers, such as paper or fabric.

An image is arranged on the coated surface and exposed to ultraviolet (sun) light. The light exposure causes the formation of an insoluble iron compound with a dark blue color called ferric ferricyanide or Prussian blue.

The soluble chemistry from the unexposed areas are cleaned away during a water bath after exposure, resulting in a negative image with cyan (blue) tones.

Boston Athenæum 1 of 5 WHAT YOU NEED

Latex or nitrile gloves Sensitized paper or fabric* Objects that are mostly flat (for example, leaves, flowers, wire, confetti, sprinkles, paper cut-outs) or negative transparency Rigid support for your paper or fabric such as stiff cardboard** Glass or acrylic sheet big enough to fully cover your paper or fabric** Tray or large bowl Running water Paper towels

*This activity plan does not include full instructions for sensitizing paper or fabric. If you want to sensitize your own paper or fabric, you can purchase supplies from one of the vendors listed below.

Follow the manufacturer’s instructions safety measures and instructions for mixing chemicals, coating paper or fabric, and disposing of used chemistry. Wear eye protection, a smock, and gloves and work in a well ventilated space if you are mixing chemicals and sensitizing your own materials.

**A disassembled picture frame can provide both a rigid support and a piece of glass or acrylic for your project.

SOURCES FOR CYANOTYPE SUPPLIES

Cyanotype chemicals for sensitizing your own paper or fabric Blick Art Supplies Blueprints on Fabric Bostick Sullivan

Pre-sensitized paper or fabric Blick Art Supplies Blueprints on Fabric Sunprint

Boston Athenæum 2 of 5 WHAT TO DO

Watch a video of Paper Conservator Tatiana Cole demonstrating how to make cyanotypes.

1. Safety first! Put on your gloves and carefully read the safety information that came with your chemistry or with your pre-sensitized paper or fabric.

2. In a setting away from windows and fluorescent lights (low ultraviolet light), place the sensitized paper or fabric onto a rigid support.

3. Design your image. Arrange your objects and/or negative transparency on 1. the sensitized paper or fabric. Remember, when you’re finished, the parts of the paper that are covered will be white and the parts of the paper left uncovered will be blue.

4. Lay the glass or acrylic over your arrangement. Clips can help keep everything in place, but use them cautiously—too much pressure from the clips

can cause the glass to shatter. Placing the glass Clips hold everything together

5. Carefully move the entire printing package (support, sensitized paper or fabric, objects or negative transparency, and glass or acrylic sheet) into sunlight or under a UV lamp to expose Before exposure After exposure the sensitized paper or fabric.

The length of time needed for the light exposure depends on how sunny it is outside. On a very sunny day at noon, it will take about 3 minutes. If you are using acrylic instead of glass, you will need a longer exposure.

Expose your composition until the visible sections of the paper or fabric go from yellow to blue and then start to turn light gray.

Boston Athenæum 3 of 5 6. Disassemble your printing package.

Exposed paper with objects and glass removed

7. Place the exposed paper or fabric in a tray or large bowl of clean water.

8. Gently move the paper around in the tray or bowl to help remove the chemicals from surface of the paper or fabric.

Rinsing the print Turning the print over while rinsing

9. Keep the paper or fabric in the tray for about 15 minutes, replacing the water about every 2 minutes.

Thoroughly rinsed prints

10. Remove the print from the water and lay it on paper towels to dry.

Finished prints

Drying on paper towels

11. Share photos of your prints on social media and tag @BostonAthenaeum so we can appreciate your artwork.

Boston Athenæum 4 of 5 GET EXTRA CREATIVE

• Use transparency paper to draw your own negative transparency or print negatives on your home printer.

• Use strips of old 35mm film negatives to create a border on your print.

• Use pens, markers, or paints to add extra details to your finished prints.

• Use your paper prints to make greeting cards, collages, or mixed-media artworks. Use your fabric prints to make pillows, face masks, or quilt squares.

Connections to Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks

ARTS

Guiding Principle 1: An effective arts education enables students to become artistically literate.

Guiding Principle 2: An effective arts education develops students’ understanding of the concept of artistic intent.

Guiding Principle 4: An effective arts education is relevant to students’ interests.

Guiding Principle 6: In effective arts education programs, students have the opportunity to experience different…uses of media.

Guiding Principle 8: An effective arts education promotes family and community engagement.

Standards for Artistic Practice: Cluster 1: Creating art with artistic intent.

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