ABSTRACT
Many of the printmaking processes, light-sensitive methods, are accomplished without a photographic darkroom, film developing area, or digital studio, although an artist may want access to these facilities for making large contact negatives that are the size of the intended image. Cyanotype, Van Dyke brown, gum bichromate, casein pigment, platinum/palladium, and salt print emulsions are applied to paper or fabric in subdued daylight, dried, exposed to bright ultraviolet light under black and white contact size transparencies, and processed. A light box for viewing negatives, a contact printing frame for holding negatives in place against the photo-printmaking emulsion, and an exposure unit of ultraviolet light all become indispensable once started using them. The chapter shows how to build these items easily and relatively inexpensively. Most art and photography stores and online suppliers sell light boxes for viewing and touching up transparencies and for cutting and taping them into masking sheets/holding them in place on clear acetate.
