I’m starting to research making liquid emulsion prints on hard surfaces such as glass and perspex. The chosen substrate must be treated with a base coat of varnish before printing so the image adheres to the surface. I am also researching how to make the finished print weatherproof.
Fotospeed Liquid Emulsion is the preferred product for this project. After trying several different brands of liquid emulsion, Fotospeed produces the best and most consistent results.
The Fotospeed LE spec sheet advises using Griffin Varnish (readily available) on substrates such as glass and ceramics. There are readily available water-based alternatives.
I am looking forward to experimenting with and small pieces of perspex and vinyl and seeing how effective the water-based varnish is as a base-coat and in waterproofing the liquid emulsion prints.
Keywords
Semester 3, Liquid Emulsion, Alternative darkroom printing, Varnish
References
Ekerseleys n.d., ‘Chromacryl Water Based Finishing Varnish’, viewed 9 February 2021, <https://www.eckersleys.com.au/chromacryl-water-based-finishing-varnish>
Eckersley’s n.d., ‘Winsor & Newton General Purpose Varnishes’, viewed 9 February 2021, <https://www.eckersleys.com.au/winsor-newton-general-purpose-varnishes>
Eckersley’s n.d., ‘Winsor & Newton Dammar Varnish’, viewed 9 February 2021, <https://www.eckersleys.com.au/winsor-newton-dammar-varnish>
Fotospeed n.d., ‘LE30 Instructions’, PDF, viewed 9 February 2021, <http://www.fotospeed.com/media/Instructions/LE30%20Instructions%20-%20sgl%20sht.pdf>
Fotospeed n.d., ‘Liquid Emulsion’, viewed 9 February 2021 <https://www.fotospeed.com/LE30-Liquid-Emulsion/products/1288/>
Fotospeed n.d., ‘Liquid Emulsion MSDS’, PDF, viewed 9 February 2021, <https://www.fotospeed.com//media/cms/Darkroom/Liquid%20Photographic%20Emulsion.pdf>