• ImagOn developer 
  • 1 level tsp.(10 grams)of Soda Ash 1 liter water 
  • Add soda ash to a small amount of hot water until the powder dissolves. 
  • Add room temperature water to dissolved soda ash solution to make a volume of 1 liter. 
  • Working temperature of the developing solution should be between 65-70 degrees F. 
  • Add developing solution to photo developing tray. 

..

Reverse Mezzotint (Additive)

Additive technique on a mezzotint base.     

Materials:

  • Plate laminated with ImagOn 
  • Materials to explore include:
    • Hunt Speedball Water Soluble Screen Filler 4570
    • Molding (or modeling paste)
    • gesso
    • acrylic mediums
    • pumice mediums

Overview:

  • The Mezzotint Intaglio-Type represents a unique method of working with the ImagOn film that displays working characteristics that are similar ( but definitely not the same finished results) to traditional mezzotint techniques. 

    One or more layers of ImagOn film are applied to the plate 

      Method One: 
      • all layers are exposed to the aquatint screen simultaneously
      Method Two: 
      • ImagOn layers individually exposed between each lamination. 
    plate developed after both layers of ImagOn have been exposed. Then the plates are light-hardened. 

    The developed ImagOn emulsion has a stippled surface similar to sandpaper and if the plate was inked and printed it should yield a rich black print. 

    To create an image from this black printing plate, you can manipulate the stippled ImagOn emulsion can be manipulated in three ways: 

    • sand into the ImagOn emulsion  (subtractive Technique)
    • "fill-in" the emulsion (Reverse Mezzotint-additive technique)
    • combination of subtractive and additive techniques. 
    Mezzo-Intaglio-Type Additive Technique. 

    Once the ImagOn plate has been prepared in one of the above mentioned ways paint onto the surface of the stippled plate.  These can be painted on to the plate in varying thicknesses and layers to fill-in the stippled surface of the ImagOn emulsion. The more the ImagOn emulsion is filled-in the lighter will those areas become.  This is a very painterly technique. The thickest and smoothest areas of the filler will produce the lightest areas of the print. It is essential to wait for the plate additives to  completely dry before attempting to print the plate. 

 

Recommended procedure:   


Prepare Plate 

Adhere ImagOn to plate 

.

plate is developed and light-hardened. . 
The resulting coated plate has a stippled surface similar to sandpaper and if the plate was inked and printed it should yield a solid black print. 

To produce the desired image from this black printing plate you can use several ways to manipulate the developed ImagOn emulsion 

  1. Subtractive Process such as sand into the ImagOn emulsion
  2. Additive Process using a "fill-in" the emulsion
  3. or by a combiation of te first two techniques. 
Health Warning 
Rubber gloves RECOMMENDED for the development procedure. Repeated use of developing solution can dry out the skin and cause a dermatitis reaction on the hands. 
Health Warning 
Eye protection advised. 
The developer is an alkaline solution. Do not splash the developing solution into eyes. 

Health Warning
Dry without heat

Develop

  • Remove protective mylar

. . 


Print

Clean Up of Printing Plate and Inking Station  

  • Vegetable oil (canola) and a rag.
  • Degrease with magnesium carbonate.
  • Put up all paper, plates, inks on personal or appropriate studio shelf and drawers.

Keep studio orderly