I find the Rawlins Oil Printing process one of the most beautiful and most pleasurable to execute. It’s been a couple of years since I made any prints. I finally got set up again and am very excited to marry and refine the Collodion Dry Plate process and the Rawlins Oil Printing process.
My hope is that by the end of the summer, I’ll have these working together so well, I’ll feel very confident about the technical portion of my project. The other printing processes I may use don’t require the technical and creative prowess that this does. It’s true there’s always a “fine-tuning” to making any print, but this process goes beyond that.
The collodion dry plate negative registered as a density of 1.8. I used a 10% potassium dichromate cut by 60% with acetone. I’m playing with contrast using different dilutions of sensitizer. I used .60ml per sq inch and dried the gelatin/dichromate to “bone dry.” The exposure was 1.5 minutes in direct afternoon sun. It printed out very well and very fast.
I swelled the matrix in 30C/86F water for 20 minutes. I used 1903 Dark Brown ink (my favorite). I applied the first couple of coats with a roller and then “hopped” and “dabbed” with a brush. The print is beautiful in hand. Please excuse the iPhone snaps, best that I could do.
The matrix fresh out of the swell water.
I used Revere Platinum paper for this print. It worked well.
The obligatory “relief” shot. It is very cool how the process works. The swelled gelatin resists the ink and the midtones/shadows accept it.
I’m still working on my “Ponderosa Tree” image. I added some black with the dark brown. It gives it nice contrast.