Railroad Trestle Cyanotype hotsell Blueprint

hotsell Railroad Trestle Cyanotype Blueprint is a handmade print made using the traditional cyanotype process invented by Sir John Herschel in 1842 outside London. The piece is not printed, drawn, or painted. The tonal range is 100% authentic Prussian blue synthesized using sunlight within the fibers of the paper and therefore cannot be duplicated or reproduced. No other pigments, inks, or dyes are present. The image is 7.25" x 11" and is on heavyweight watercolor paper. It comes with a robust signed certificate or authenticity from the artist.

It will be signed on the back by the artist or the front upon request from the buyer.

Frame not included.

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What is a Cyanotype?

A cyanotype is an image produced by the synthesis and deposition of the inorganic pigment Prussian blue. The chemical reaction that produces Prussian blue is initiated by UV light, and most often sunlight. They are also often called blueprints or sunprints. The process involves coating heavyweight paper with a light sensitive solution of two Iron compounds and exposing the paper with a negative to sunlight and "where light shines through, it will turn blue." Areas of the sensitized paper that are blocked from the sunlight remain white upon development. Due to the nature of this process, an original cyanotype cannot be duplicated or reproduced using a modern printer. The pigment, dye, or ink the printer (Epson, Canon, etc...) uses will not be Prussian blue and certainly is not synthesized using sunlight. Interestingly, Prussian blue is an FDA approved drug for heavy metal poisoning and a person in treatment can safely take up to 10 grams of pure Prussian blue per day.

Timeline:

1704-1706 - The Pigment Prussian blue first synthesized by accident using Potassium Carbonate contaminated with animal oil by the famous alchemist Dippel and colorist Diesbach in Berlin.
1709 - Prussian blue used in first painting, The Entombment of Christ.
1842 - The famous astronomer and polymath Sir John Herschel while attempting to invent a method for copying his notes realizes that he can coat paper with potassium ferricyanide and ferric ammonium citrate and upon exposure to sunlight can achieve a tonal range of Prussian blue that is proportional to the photons of light.
1843 - Anna Atkins, the British botanist and first female photographer uses Herschel's new process to publish the first book illustrated with photographs instead of paintings or drawings.