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Workshops

Orotone

A one day orotone workshop

The orotone you will make is a photographic print directly on to a prepared glass surface which is then coated with a metallic emulsion, usually golden in colour. The metal in suspension can be gold, but I usually use a fine brass powder.

The cost for the workshop is 60 euro for the day (usually from 10h00 until 08h00)

All materials and chemicals are provided.

You can bring your own negatives – any size up to 18 x 24 cm – 5 x 7 inch is ideal for the workshop. You can bring digital negatives, although I do not have a scanner, printer or any post production software.

My preferred method is to print onto the glass by carbon transfer. Prepared tissue for the carbon transfer is provided.

Small negatives, from 35mm up to 12 x 17 cm, can be used to print directly onto silver gelatin coated glass plates, but my preferred method of making orotones from small negatives is to first make a good paper print on traditional bromide paper the size of the required orotone and to then use the carbro process to transfer the image to the glass.

With carbon transfer and carbro processes we could make the tissue any colour using colour pigments. The tissue used in this workshop is made from pure carbon black, so for this workshop the colour is black.

It is possible to make a colour print onto the glass using pigments and the careful registration of separate negatives, but this is not part of this workshop.

The image is behind a glass surface, by using carbon processes for printing and with the museum archival quality coating, an orotone should last forever (unless you break the glass).

The physical depth of the carbon print and the glass give a vitality to the orotone which cannot be shown on a screen – I have some videos which do show this a little better.

Orotone portrait

 

 

 

 

 

Old chestnut