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Old 10th January 2021, 03:44 PM
Terry S Terry S is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Southend on Sea, Essex, England, UK
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Default Are making chrysotypes an easy process for beginners?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Walding View Post
Several years ago I posed the question, 'is anyone out there doing chrysotypes?'

I have enjoyed producing cyanotypes, argyrotypes and a few chrysotypes having spent ages acquiring and learning about the necessary bits. These processes I gravitated to by ease of use and cost in the case of the cyanotype and results (less blue!) with the latter two of which the chrysotype can, I think, give the nicest image.
Paul, I have read a lot about all the various processes, and after years of trying, I am slowly becoming happy with my b/w darkroom printing. This has meant that I am now happy, along with a few others on this forum, to dip my toe into the Cyanotype pond.

I had never heard of chrysotypes before, but just looking them up, gold seems to be the metal used to produce them. With cost in mind, I was about to give up straight away. But continuing onto other sites, the newer process, the 'Texas chrysotype' was starting to be mentioned, with people saying that it was both cheap and easy to do. And from what I can tell from what I've read, there seems to be only two cheap chemical ingredients required, being citric acid and ammonium ferric oxalate, with the latter seeming to be widely available from a number of UK chemical companies (but only one US seller on ebay).

But then, on one or two of the sites it says that gold (although a very small amount, but still some gold) is also required.

So now I'm a bit confused. Do I need just the two ingredients I've mentioned above or do I also need (a small amount of) gold as well? And also, just as important, is it an easy process that it is proclaimed to be?

I like the look of the prints I've seen on the web, but will be bookmarking some chrysotype sites for now, but hope to return to it in the future, when I've read a bit more about it.

So, in the meantime, has anyone else, other than the OP, used this process and if so, what are your thoughts for a total beginner?

Terry S
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