Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Blue sun printing

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This is one of those projects I saw on pinterest and wanted to try ever since - you need paper that is sensitive to light, and sunshine, and then you get some magical results. Basically, working with it is a mixture of art and a really neat science experiment, so, what´s not to like?

I had little trouble finding the paper in Germany - much less than I expected - searching for solar-papier on amazon go me quick and very affordable results.

The paper came, delivered in dark plastic:

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It is not super sensitive - you don´t need complete dark to work with it. I had my kids find the stuff they wanted to place on it before, so it wouldn´t have to be exposed too long, but you don´t have to hurry placing the leaves or toys or whatever you take on the paper - if you do it inside.

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We worked in the kitchen, placing the sheets of paper on a frame we used instead of a tray, so we could carry them out to the balcony into the sunlight.

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I think my favourite is Miro´s playmobil artwork:
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When you start, the paper is all blue, but after some minutes out in the sun, it turns completely white - except, of course, for the parts covered with stuff.  One trouble though is wind - leaves or lace are swiftly blown away, so you get no proper print. I´ve read about covering the paper with glass, but I didn´t have one at hand, so... we just tried shielding our paper from wind the best we could.

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Sometimes more, sometimes less succesfull.

As soon as your paper is completely white, you can rinse it in clear cold water.
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The image will first dissolve, and later, when it´s dry, reappear. Really cool :)
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Right now, these prints are still hanging from our ceiling, looking awesome, but I could totally see fragments of them used on greeting cards or in mixed media art pieces. And we´ve still got some paper left :)

Music:

If you haven´t seen this perfect video, do yourself the favour of watching it, at least to the point when the clothes start raining - it will make you happy for the rest of the day :)

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