Cyanotypes are something I love doing due to my photography background, using the bold blue colour they turn out often in my colour schemes. Using a digital negative of the images I want, exposing them to light after painting on the cyanotype chemical results in a printed copy of the image, which works on both paper and certain fabrics.
The cyanotypes went quite successfully, although I wish I got some more detailed images of the insects that would have been more of a drastic print rather than just the outlines of them. I quite like the splashed one too, by only splashing the developer on some parts of the images the image is only partially developed and exposed. I also added stitch to a few of them to help with the texture and to the shape of the image, bringing out certain parts of it like the veins in the leaves and the stems of some of the thinner leaves.
The photograms were also quite interesting, the skeleton leaf in particular was very effective showing the veins and holes through it, I also like the smaller ones as it shows a great deal of detail throughout. The bugs are quite singular toned, however the shape is very clear and interesting.
I had a go at some double exposure, exposing two different images on the same piece of coated photographic paper, however these did not go too well this time, as the timings and intensity of the lighting are all factors that can affect the quality of the image at the end of the process.
Overall the photographic experiments were interesting, but this time I did not feel like they could contribute to my pattern creation this time. I will continue to work closely with photography, digital and more taditional processes, as I feel like it is part of my handwriting, whether its the process to get there or the final result itself.
Tahlia Paige 