Backyard exposure table. Two 42" x 84" wooden table tops combine to make a 7' square surface. Awesome Craigslist find!
Early work in progress on the patio at Deadbolt Studios near Trinity Groves, Dallas.
Kodak Endura Professional color negative photo paper from a 72" x 100' roll. Hung up on the studio walls prior to painting.
Paint drying after my collaborator, Matt Clark, squeegees acrylics onto the surface.
More paint drying.
After the paint dries, I take the piece to my "studio", adhere it to the table and prepare to begin my "exposure" process.
How I usually begin, with some kind of organic material (red grapes in this case). I smush them up to release the juices then go to town spreading it all over the paper.
red grapes smeared onto the paper
detail of grapes
"Aerial" view of an exposure to oatmeal.
coffee grinds, plus powdered sugar.
barbecue sauce and maybe some soy sauce.
lump charcoal broken into bits, plus tea. Don't ask me how I came up with this combination.
congealed maple syrup. this one was nasty to clean up after the fact.
detail of the barbecue sauce piece.
tomatillos, cherries, egg whites... whatever i have left over in the kitchen that is going bad.
fallen leaves and cherries again.
Campbell's soup, fried okra grease
pickles, jalapenos, and banana peppers
tangerines and orange juice
detail of the oatmeal piece
blueberry pancake mix, banana bread
sliced onions and soy sauce.
My wife and I peeling paint from the piece. I don't always include this part of the process, but I find it creates a nice third layer of information, since the paint acts as a mask to the underlying paper.
peeling back paint
Sometimes, it is very difficult to peel back the paint layer and it only comes off in certain areas.
detail
detail. paper still not processed. this is all the latent image before the developing and fixing baths.
more latent images.
latent image detail
Results of exposing for 3 days in full sunlight.
A finished piece, ready to be stretched and framed for exhibition!