16 DIGITAL CAMERA^
1
Gather objects
First things first, decide what
you’re going to lay on your paper
for printmaking. I visited some
botanical gardens and picked
leaves and stems with clear
outlines – the final print is two-
tone, so interesting sillhouettes
are best. You could press your
own flowers, or use keepsakes that
are personal to you, and frame the
final prints for wall art or gifts.2
Assemble and expose
Grab your Sunprint kit (found online
or at big craft shops), plus a tray of
water. Arrange the objects on a piece
of Sunprint paper out of the reach
of the sun, either inside or just in the
shade. Next, place the acrylic sheet
on top to flatten and hold your items
to the Sunprint paper. Leave your
setup in the sun to develop until most
of the colour disappears from the
paper and it turns from blue to white.3
Rinse, fix and dry
Once exposed, rinse your Sunprint
in water and watch the white tones
turn into blue and the blue to white.
To get the deepest tones the paper
can give, leave it in water for one to
five minutes. Just as the sun’s light
stimulated a chemical change in the
previous step, the water stimulates
another here. Lay your Sunprint flat
to fully dry (we used the acrylic
sheet for this) and you’re finished!How long should
the exposure be?
A Sunprint is ready to fix when the
paper has turned almost white, but
how long does it take for this to
happen? On the back of our kit, it
suggested leaving the paper exposed
for one to five minutes, depending on
the sunlight intensity. We found that
most of our prints took the full five
minutes, sometimes longer. Under
cloud cover (or on a windowsill) the
process could take up to 20 minutes.
Light intensity varies hugely and
there’s no exact timing, so use your
own creative judgement. Why not
experiment with different timings?
If the blue tone isn’t strong enough
in your final print, leave the next
print exposed for longer. Use
a phone timer to help you.16 DIGITAL CAMERA^ SEPTEMBER 2019
How does it work?
Exposed areas of the Sunprint
paper fade from blue to white in
ultra-violet light. This is because
two molecules in the paper
interact to form a new molecule.
The new molecule is colourless,
and so when the blue molecules
are converted, the white of the
paper base begins to show
through. Areas of the paper
covered by your objects still
contain the original blue
molecule, so they remain blue.(^12)
3