Development is the most exciting part of the gum process. This is when your
image will appear and either astound you or disappoint you. It is fascinating to
watch your image be created as your emulsion simply dissolves off the paper surface. Unlike most other photography processes, the only chemical needed for development is plain old water!
You will also need a
sink or a deep and large enough tray for water and your print.
(I use my kitchen
sink which is just big enough for an 11X15 inch sheet of paper. I have been
considering using my bathtub for much larger prints when I get around to
printing those.)
>> First, fill your sink or tray with lukewarm water. You can use a
thermometer or just your hand if you like. It should feel just about body
temperature, maybe a little warmer or cooler depending on your preference.
That means somewhere around 90 - 100 degrees Fahrenheit should be fine.
Hotter water will cause development to happen
faster, and colder water will cause it to
develop slower. I think cold water feels annoying personally. If the print
develops too fast in too hot of water, some areas might be damaged in the
image. The cooler, probably the safer.
>> Set a timer to 5 minutes and slide your print under the
surface of the water gently, making sure to wet all areas of the paper and
start the timer.
I repeatedly slide the paper in and out of the water for
the duration of the 5 minutes. I find gently agitating the print in the
beginning helps avoid stains. Almost immediately, you will start to see some
yellow wash off the print into the water. That yellow is most of the
dichromate washing out.
If you were to touch the gum layer now, you
would find it rubs off terribly easy. It is a feeble, delicate layer right
now and you should be as careful as you can not to touch it or let it touch
anything. Always handle your paper by the edges or corners!!!
As you can see I develop with my hands. If you want, there is
nothing wrong with using rubber gloves to avoid contact with the dichromate
which is washing into the water. Remember dichromate is toxic. I am taking a risk here, but I see it that the dichromate is so diluted it
should have little if any effect. It is up to your judgment. I always am
sure to rinse my hands immediately after developing a print!!!
>> In the first 2-3 minutes during agitation, the first
highlights of your image will begin to appear. This means some pigment is
starting to come off the image and into the water. If your image has
many lighter areas, there will be a lot of pigment washing off in the
beginning. This image is very dark so very little pigment initially came off.
>> When the first 5 minutes are up, pull the drain in the sink and
flush away the water. I hold the print up, allowing the water to drip into
the sink still as it drains. As the sink empties, I turn the faucet back on
and rinse my hands one at a time to avoid prolonged contact with the dichromate and continue to hold the print making sure
it does not get splashed or touched by accident.
>> I then fill the sink back up, again with luke warm water. I
try to get the print back into the water as soon as possible without letting
the gum layer get damaged by the running water. I gently agitate it just as before as
before while the sink fills for roughly 1-2 minutes.
I then set the timer for 20 minutes and let the
paper float face down to soak and continue to develop slowly and gently.
This soak in cleaner water also helps clear any yellowish haze left in the
paper from the dichromate.
Its now time to go crack open a beverage.
>> At 10 minutes, my cooking timer beeps as a reminder. At
10 minutes I usually check my print to see if everything is going alright. I slide it in and out of the water gently once or
twice before letting it lay face down once again. As you can see, the image
is developing nicely.
>> Finally, when the timer is up, I lift my print out of the
water and drain the sink if the print looks ready.
If there is still pigment
running off onto the borders of the paper, you might need to develop it
longer or slide it gently under the water again a few times. Often I might decide to add another 5-10
minutes or so. Once I left a print in there for over an hour. The longer you
leave it there, the lighter the layer of gum will get as more dissolves into the water.
I make sure to
rinse my hands again, and bring the print somewhere to dry. I find hanging
my prints from one corner works best. I also have a fan nearby and blow it
near the paper at a low setting. it also helps to place something beneath like a tray or cup to collect the dripping water as the print dries.
As you can see, the image showed up rather nicely. Below is a scan of the
print I just made. It was a little overexposed intentionally for detail in the highlights. The banding of the brush strokes are still evident, however another layer will help to diminish this.
I then printed a second layer of darker gray at half the exposure time as the
first layer, helping to deepen the dark tones and increase
the overall scale of the image. I further outline this technique called Duotone printing in the Printing With a Custom Negative tutorial. I recommend you first build a custom negative scale first for the best results
