Digital BW, The Print

Robert,

This whole coating thing has become a topic all its own for me. I got into it for a 
couple of reasons -- for one, since I had a ton of already-ordered 35x47 Museo 
sitting in my office, I was committed to that paper. But since the 
matteblack/Ultrachromes don't work so well with that paper (blacks are weak), I 
was looking for some way to richen the blacks after the fact. The coatings work 
well to do that. Secondly, I'm so damn gun-shy about anybody calling these 
"computer prints", I'm doing anything and everything I can to de-computerize 
them, and to make them feel more "individual", where each print has a slight 
uniqueness. The coatings help here too.

I don't have any special affinity for the Oleopasto. It's expensive, and it's hard to 
apply. But once it's on, it looks great. I first tried applying the coating with a 
brush, which was fine, but it takes forever on a large print, and you use a much 
larger amount that you need to. I just go with it -- I just let the brush stokes 
show, and don't sweat it. Then, I got cheap with how much it cost to do each one, 
throwing away a good brush every time, and switched to those HomeDepot foam 
brushes. (I was afraid to soak the brushes in mineral spirits to save them for 
fear that the spirits would transfer to the next print). The foam brushes are OK, 
but don't have the romance in the texture that they leave. I then switched to a 
cheap white plastic spackling blade, that's about six inches wide. It's great to 
apply the material, 'cause you can just drag it around and over the print easily, 
but it also leaves buildup around the outer edges. I'm now thinking about making 
my own applicator, which would be a black, pliable rubber piece, screwed into a 
1x6, which would be about 36" wide. That way, almost like a silkscreen attitude, I 
could just pull the coating material over a 35x47 print in one fell swoop; one 
pass. That might be interesting.

I'm also going to get away from mounting these prints on boards, yada yada. The 
post production can get to be a giant time-suck, and I don't want to turn into a 
wood shop. I'm trying to find a way to show the print, on the wall, flat, with no 
frame, and certainly NO glass. It might just be a simple wood strip across the top 
of the print, with a hook in it. And then let the print blow in the wind.

The other thing that's appealing about the coating is the difference in surface 
finish. When you see the matte finish Museo or PhotoRag, and then notice that 
just the image area is glazed/coated, which leaves a semigloss finish, it's a nice 
contrast. Again, if you use glass it kills the whole vibe.

Any feedback or other technique info would be appreciated. Thanks.

MT, http://www.marktucker.com/