Kale (Brassica oleracea acephala) anthotype by David Lowe

“Altar Window Fragment” by David Lowe
Country: Manchester, England
Parts used: Shredded leaves
Amount: 100 grams of shredded Kale with 70 mL of alcohol (white rum).
Extracted by: Pestle and mortar
Thinner: Alcohol (white rum)
Application: Foam brushing

Layers: 4
Substrate: Hot Pressed Watercolour paper, 300 gsm
Created with: Positive on digital transfer film
Exposure: 1 day for 8 hours, August, Summer, 2023
Contrast: ✿ (Low)
Challenges or observations: Very difficult to extract any liquid from the shredded kale using the pestle and mortar. Needed to add alcohol during the grinding process, which was guess work as to how much to add without making the emulsion too dilute; no further alcohol was added after the grinding stage. Exposed very quickly; there is a danger of over exposing the print.
Additional information: I had another try using the same paper and applying five coats of the existing emulsion; however, the result was inferior to the first using four coats. There may have been some deterioration of the emulsion between the first and second print and/or I may have over exposed the second print as it was a hotter day.
See gallery: AlternativePhotography.com/david-lowe/
Instagram: @handalteredphotomontages

World Anthotype Day was started by AlternativePhotography.com in 2022. In August anthotype artists all over the world celebrate the anthotype process and send in their entries. We add them here to the database and create a reference book for each year. The purpose of the day is to build a large resource where artist can learn which pigmenets and plants that work and draw inspiration from other artists' work. The reference books can be found here: