About

This blog should be read as a series of notes to myself.

There are so many ways of making a Bromoil print and so many styles that something I see in a paper that makes me dismiss it could well be the savior of someone else.  I suggest a quick look at my George L Smyth to understand my style and what I expect in a paper.

Unless I know otherwise, the following is the procedure I use to make a print.

I make a reference print that approximates what I am after.  I then expose the paper I will use to make the print for twice the time and reduce the contrast by half a grade.  The print dries overnight.

I use the Trevor Jones formula to create the matrix.

Stock Solution A (10% copper sulphate)
Copper sulphate 100g
Distilled water to make 1 liter

Stock Solution B (10% potassium bromide)
Potassium bromide 100 g
Distilled water to make 1 liter

Stock Solution C (1% potassium bichromate)
Potassium bichromate 10 g
Distilled water to make 1 liter

For use mix 70ml A, 70ml B, and 30ml C with water to a total volume of 1 liter.

The print then dries overnight.

The print is then soaked at 70F (21C) for 8 minutes and inked with Senefelder’s Crayon Black 1803.  I begin by applying a series of lines with the brush in a walking fashion, then turn the paper 90 degrees and repeat.  After four turns I begin a slow hopping process that increases in speed after the paper has been covered in this process.

I expect that the highlights will start to get blocked up when the paper dries out, so I re-soak for one minutes and re-ink the paper.  Depending upon numerous things, I may resoak several times.

Once I begin to understand how a paper responds I deviate from this standard procedure according to my experience, but the above is my starting point unless I know otherwise.

The example images are exactly that, example images.  They are not scans of finished prints but merely show the results that came from the above procedure (or if I know better, the approved procedure).

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to either email me at George.Smyth@gmail.com or post a question on the Flickr Bromoil Group.