Wet Cyanotype Project 2210-2 by Lesley Riley Sponsored by Bernina of America, Equilter.Com, Marabu, Dharma Trading Co., and Wooly Felted Wonders

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Quilting Arts TV series 2200 Wet Cyanotype project 2210-2 by Lesley Riley Sponsored by Bernina of America, eQuilter.com, Marabu, Dharma Trading Co., and Wooly Felted Wonders

Host Susan Brubaker Knapp with mixed-media artist Lesley Riley

Materials yanotype is a very simple these chemicals is to use a prepackaged • Two component cyanotype set (I use process which has been used for kit, which I buy from Jacquard. Add a set from Jacquard.) Cover 150 years. It is a contact 8 oz. of water to each of the lightfast • Fabric printing process that also goes by the bottles of premeasured chemicals and • Containers names sunprinting and blueprints. Wet store until you are ready to print. cyanotype—commonly called wet- • Plastic sheeting The methods I share here work for me, cyan—is a relative newcomer to the • Good quality wood Hake brush, my end goals, and intentions for wet- world of cyanotype printing, appearing chip brush, or foam brush cyan prints. It is a jumping off point on Instagram feeds in the spring of • Base for exposure (portable, such as for you to do your own explorations, 2017. Cyanotype is the straight-laced cardboard or foam core; or static, such as investigations, and experimentations. parent of the more adventurous, rule- a table covered with a plastic sheet) The process is very easy and you really breaking, serendipitous, and dare I say • Spray bottle of water cannot go wrong, so dive into the joy of naughty, wet-cyan child. Yep, that’s me. • Masks, such as leaves, small plants, wet-cyan printing. flat objects It uses two powdered chemicals, green ® • Glass or Plexiglas larger than the ferric ammonium citrate and red crystal What can I print on? fabric/masks potassium ferricyanide. Potassium The quick answer is any natural fiber • Gloves and work clothes/shoes ferricyanide is light sensitive on its or surface like paper, fabric, unfinished Optional own and the purpose of the ferric wood, stone, leather—natural being the key word. The cyanotype solution does • White vinegar ammonium citrate is to speed up the not bond well with synthetic fabrics, • Hydrogen peroxide exposure process and darken the end color (blue ferric ferrocyanide), which plastics or man-made materials. is permanently bound to the fabric. It A smooth, tight weave fabric will give CAUTION: All art supplies, is light sensitive until exposure, so all the best print definition but don’t let measuring and mixing tools, and preparations must be done in the dark. that stop you from investigating other protective coverings used in this More about that later. process should be dedicated to fabrics. The larger the leaves you use, nonfood use. I like to leave the science and chemicals the larger the weave of the fabric can be. to the pros and concentrate on the art. Printed and patterned fabrics can make The easiest and safest way to work with for interesting wet-cyan prints. Keep

© F+W Media, Inc. All rights reserved. F+W Media grants permission for any or all pages in this document to be copied for personal use. • quiltingartstv.com • quiltingcompany.com Quilting Arts TV series 2200 project 2210-2 in mind that the cyanotype solution pieces of fabric, depending on the light-safe envelope before I go to is transparent and once the fabric is size and absorbency. Always have bed. It must be kept in a light-safe exposed and rinsed, the blue will visually extras ready to coat in case you container or space until you are mix with the base color(s) in the fabric. have leftover solution, otherwise it’s ready to use it. It is best used within wasted. And if you run out before 6 months. Store in a cool and dry How dark is dark? you’re finish coating the fabric, make place. Aluminum foil is good for When I was first starting out I could more solution! storage. Any color change during not find any definitive answer as to storage time may be from oxidation 2. A good quality wood Hake brush how dark it should be when you mix or light leakage and will minimally is recommended for coating by and apply the solution to your desired affect your wet-cyan results—not traditional cyanotype printers surface. You’re all set if you have a a problem since you are aiming for because there is no metal ferrule darkroom and a safelight ... but I don’t, altered results anyway. Wet-cyan to interfere with the chemicals. I do you? I always wait until nighttime artist H. Lisa Solon finds that “air also use a chip brush and have not to prep my fabric. Before I turn out the drying the paper and letting it age noticed any difference. A foam brush lights, I protect my work surface. You for a few weeks can create more will also work. I always coat to the also need to cover the floor or table color shifts.” I’ve never been able to edge of the fabric, but you can leave with plastic sheeting for a drying area. prepare that far ahead of time or wait random edges. (Splashes do wash off of wood easily, that long! but not fabric or paper.) 3. It is best to coat the material several When it’s time to mix the solution, I times, in both directions, until it is How much exposure? 1. Place the coated fabric on the base turn on an incandescent lamp across the completely covered. The solution is you will expose it on (cardboard, room and cover it with fabric to subdue yellowish green before exposure, so foam core, table covered with plastic the light. Fluorescent light emits some it is quite easily seen if you’ve missed sheeting) and spray it with a bit UV rays similar to the sun which risks a spot. I paint the solution onto of water. It is the added water that exposing the solution. fabric, but you can also dip fabric to coat it, squeezing it thoroughly to makes it a ‘wet cyanotype.’ I always wet the base (I use a plastic tabletop) Instructions coat and remove the excess before drying. It is okay to press dried, and/or the back of the fabric. The Prepare for printing coated fabric … as long as you do it fabric content and thickness, along 1. Following the manufacturer’s in the dark! with the moisture content of the directions, measure equal amounts plant, will also influence the results. 4. Once the solution is applied to of each solution into a plastic or the fabric, it is light sensitive and Note: Younger plants/leaves hold more glass container—large enough for must be left to dry in a dark area. moisture as do leaves after a heavy rain. your brush to fit in—dedicated to A hairdryer can speed up drying. I You can soak dry leaves in water for about non-food use. (I use a 4 oz. measuring usually coat my fabric as soon as the 30 minutes before using. Be aware that glass available in the barware section.) sun goes down, leave it to dry with an over-wet soaked leaf could draw the I find that 2 oz. of each solution a fan running, and gather it into a cyanotype solution under the leaf affecting is sufficient to coat about 6–8 the final silhouette … which might be a good thing depending on the look you want.

Other Media for Wet-Cyan 2. Cover the leaf/substrate sandwich Different fabrics and papers provide different results, primarily in the deepness of with glass or Plexiglas. I prefer glass color. I usually work on a good quality 140 lb. hot press, watercolor paper, preferring its because it is both heavier and less expensive, and I tape the edges for smoothness, color depth, and print definition. Canson mixed media paper yields good safety. Wet the glass/Plexiglas before prints, too. Any paper that can withstand water will work—old book or ledger pages, placing it on top. cardstock, tags, etc. I’ve tried them all to much delight.

Note: During exposure, I will also add the sun, ambient temperature, and 3. Over time, the print will reach its full water to the table or at the glass edges if it moisture in the print, changes can blue color through oxidation, but you is a very hot day and the substrate appears continue to develop over hours. Some can speed the process up with a dip to be drying out before I see enough change wet-cyan artists have left a print out in a solution of 1 tsp. of hydrogen happening on the surface. It is all random, in the rain, snow, overnight, for days peroxide to 1 cup of water. Gently however, in that you cannot really control or weeks ... just to see what will swish it for a few seconds until the where the water goes. happen. Something always happens. blue deepens to its final shade. My practice is to have the prints out 4. Air dry or use a hair-dryer to dry your When is it done? by 11 a.m. when the sun hits my back print. 1. Once the print has developed to porch and then I clean everything up your liking, you are done. A lot of and rinse my prints before dinner. lesleyriley.com what happens to the print is almost That is about 5–6 hours of exposure. instantaneous. Depending on the amount of sunlight, the angle of 2. Rinse/wash the prints in running Resources warm water until the water runs Excellent cyanotype instructions, FAQs, and clear—about 5 minutes—or swish the troubleshooting help is available online from Additional notes print face down in a pan containing a Jacquard. • Cyanotype chemicals are not toxic 1:4 vinegar to water solution followed jacquardproducts.com/cyanotype-set but avoid ingestion and prolonged by a final rinse in clean water. Fabric skin contact. takes longer to rinse than paper. • Wear gloves and an apron or old clothes to prevent the cyanotype mixture from staining. • This is a kid-friendly activity, with supervision.