This fish seemed like a good candidate for my first attempts at gum printing – (original digital mackerel here). Still a lot to learn / improve upon, but things seem to be going okay… so far…
Oseary Drakoulias: “…you must swear, legally swear, that you will not kill that shark, or whatever it is, if it actually exists.”
Steve Zissou: “I’m going to fight it… but I’ll let it live. What about my dynamite?”
Oseary Drakoulias: “Phillip, dynamite.”
– Michael Gambon & Bill Murray – The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
About this image: digital photograph (Canon 300D) lightly modified in Adobe Photoshop and printed in negative – negative contact printed on 9″x12″ watercolor paper with/in gum bichromate
Refrigerator Magnate 
Cool, Robert, it looks great. Interesting medium. You’re so adventurous. Bravo!
Incredibly kind of you, S.E… thank you!
It is very interesting… and not wildly complicated… but there are a ton of variables to keep in mind (little things that seem to make a big difference in the final result).
Hahaha… I’m not called adventurous very often, S.E… I might be gloating about this for a while.
🙂
Happy gloating, Robert. 😀
Please excuse the cape and crown
(not that I’m letting this go to my head or anything).
🙂
nice! i’m inspired ~ have wanted to try this process
Awesome! I’m very happy to hear that!
Not too complicated, but a lot of variables to keep track of! Makes the multi-colored prints seem even more impressive to me now!
A lot of fun, too, though – I suspect you’d really like it!
🙂
Oh, I really like this one! I love anything marine!! It seems like a very complicated process, this gum printing. To me, it looks like it turned out perfect, SIG. Wasn’t that one of the weirdest movies?
Awesome! I’m so happy to hear that, B.F… thank you!
It’s kind of funny in that the steps aren’t too bad… but there are so many little variables that seem to make a big difference… it’s a bit difficult to nail-down how to find the right balance of things… I think things are improving, though (so that’s good)!
Hahaha… it is very unique, isn’t it?! I think I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched Wes Anderson Movies (we just watched ‘Bottle Rocket’ again last night, too)!
🙂
Ah, little variables that make a difference…I’m sure that would get me into trouble! I’ve never seen “Bottle Rocket.” Do you recommend it?!
I do! I am a pretty big Wes Anderson fan, though, so that’s probably a pretty biased answer, though, B.F.
🙂
How cool. I remembered wood-block print in Japan
That is very kind of you to say, sir, thank you!
I love Japanese wood-block prints!
🙂
Very cool – love the effect.
I’m very happy to hear that, J.P…
thank you so much!
🙂
Branching out to the gum printing, mister. Really cool!
Fingers crossed…
Thank you very, very much Ms. N!
🙂
I had never heard of gum printing before. I thought it might have something to do with Wrigley’s…but then I went to the link.
Very cool image! Bravo!
Ha! Sure sounds like that might be the case, doesn’t it!
And from the look of my first few prints it looked like it might be the case as well!
Thank you, Ms. C! Very much!
🙂
I’m disappointed. I thought gum printing might include actual gum.
Hahaha… kind of unfortunate, isn’t it?
Or maybe not… knowing me I’d get my printing materials confused with my chewing materials.
🙂
You know how much I love black and white, so this one looks very nice, but I also like the other one very much too! Why do you give me so many choices? 🙂 Very nice work, Sig!
Have a great week! 🙂
Hahaha… sorry, Deb! I struggle with that all the time… sometimes there seem to be almost too many choices!
Thank you so very much! I hope you have a wonderful week too, Deb!
🙂
I’ve never heard of this method, but neat! Who doesn’t love an old-timey fish? I think I actually like the original a bit better because it has more detail around those creepy, creepy fish eyes, but I’d hang a bunch of different colors of this on my living room wall in a second.
Agreed, U.M!
One of the challenges has been trying to find a wider tonal range…
of course sometimes you want things to be super-contrasty… but I’m still looking for a bit more control there…
🙂
What you can do with a few sticks of Juicy Fruit…holy mackerel!
Hahaha… thanks so much, Peg!
*smack smack smack*
Sorry… sometimes I get a little carried away with my gum.
🙂
is it just me or does that fish look pissed? 🙂
Hahaha… now that you mention it…
he does look a bit like he’s considering giving me a head-butt…
🙂
Holy Makeral it looks like it’s frozen in a block of ice. Nice effect
Holy Mackerel, I spelt Mackerel wrong!!!
I would have never noticed, Tony…
most fish can spell better than I can!
🙂
but don’t take it personally. they spend so much of their time in schools, so they have an advantage over most people.
HA!
Hilarious, P&K! Well played… well played!
🙂
It does look kind of icy, doesn’t it?! Brrr… is it spring yet?!
Thanks so much, sir!
🙂
I scrolled all the way down to say it looks like it’s in a block of ice and you beat me to it. Now I don’t have anything to contribute to the stream. I guess the fish came from a stream though. No, wait, mackerel are salt water fish aren’t they? Well maybe you catch Makeral from a stream. “SQUIRRELL” I know. I spelled that wrong too.
I still appreciate the thought, Bo! Very much! And your taking the time to scroll!
Hahaha… spelling… something else I’ve never been able to figure out! I can usually tell there’s something ‘fishy’ about what I’ve just written… but I’m never actually able to figure out what / why!
🙂
I forget which president said it but he said “A man who can only spell a word one way has very little imagination.”
Hahaha… I love that! And it sounds like I might be related to him (maybe I should have found out who it was before I said that, though)!
🙂
Maybe the Makeral were hoidaying in the stream???
Is it that time of year again?
Hahaha… it sneaks-up so fast…
🙂
Hahaha… it seems the thing to do these days…
🙂
I’m not sure what gum printing is, but if you ever need to do wine gum printing, you can call me.
Hahaha… nice to know I’ve got good back-up!
Good help can be difficult to find sometimes, you know!
Thank you very much, sir!
🙂
I’m like Binky don’t know what gum printing is, but you did a great job whatever it is.
Just happy to hear you liked it, my friend! That’s really the only important part!
🙂
Hi Inky….I’m not familiar with gum printing either…I have been seeing a lot of buzz about some kind of gel printing. It’s always fun to try a new ways of making our marks 🙂
Very interesting, Mary – I hadn’t heard of gel printing until you mentioned it! At first I was guessing it was almost like a gel medium transfer, but after looking around a bit it looks like a plate to make monoprints… (if I was looking at the right thing, anyway) very cool!
🙂
Excellent work once again Bob , You modified this image perfectly
thanks for posting my friend 🙂
I had a lot of fun, anyway! So everything else was just a bonus!
Thank you so much, Jake! You are always incredibly kind, sir!
🙂
Kind of ‘back to (certain) roots. Fascinating.
Be careful with the Ammonium dichromate and the Potassium dichromate, though, please.
Absolutely – so much fun (when it kinda works, anyway)!
Good advice – will do – I try to be a bit overcautious when it comes to chemistry.
🙂
Baker: ” By gum ! That is some Mackerel your Holiness. ”
Butcher: “Burping…”
Candle Stick Maker: “Have you tried bicarbonate of soda for that gas ?”
The Dalai Lama : ” You must be as calm as the tiger.”
Deleted scene From “The Life of Pie”
Love your range of creativity.
Wait… did someone say… PIE?!
Hahaha… thank you so much, sir!
But about that pie…
🙂
I liked the print but had no idea what gum printing was … glad you included the link!! The color is lovely!
Thank you so much, L.B! That’s another cool thing about this process… being able to choose what color to use… or colorS even! A multiple color / layer print might take quite a bit of practice, though (I’m still trying to figure out a single color)!
🙂
Holy Mackeral it’s The Shroud of ….. oh never mind
Hahaha… I guess I should use a sepia color next time…
🙂
I scanned all the comments in hopes I’d be the first to stay “Holy Mackeral”. I would have been the first to say it, too, had it not been for the Friggin’ Loon.
Sorry 😦
Great minds, Ms. D! Great minds!
🙂
YMMG, of course (you made me google), SIG. I am even more impressed now that I read the opening lines of Wikipedia on this topic:
Gum printing is a way of making photographic reproductions without the use of silver halides. The process uses salts of dichromate in common with a number of other related processes such as…. etc
that’s about where i got lost. well i actually got lost in the silver halides already. blows the mind what you do. so talented, and very creative once again! thanks for sharing.
I probably made it sound more difficult than it really is… the steps / materials are fairly basic… just that there are SO many variables within those steps. The kind of thing that just takes a bit of time / practice to figure out, I suspect. But that’s the fun part, so no complaints here (as long as I get SOME kind of result to show for myself, anyway)!
🙂
This looks cool, Robert. I was wondering if the gum had to be chewed beforehand, looks like I’m not alone.
Hahaha… *om nom nom* I wonder what would give anyone that idea?! 😉
Gum printing sounds fun!!! 😀
Absolutely! Especially when it kind of works!
🙂
I wondered why it tasted funny – they told me it was an Oily fish…
Sounds like you were having fun 🙂
Hahaha… a very acquired taste, I would think! For the palate and the stomach!
Absolutely! Well… the closer I get to an acceptable result the more fun it’s becoming, anyway! If I can refine my process a bit more it should be a ton of fun!
🙂
Keep at it Bob – It’s great to play (as long as it doesn’t get in the way of the washing up) 😉
Hahaha… thank you, Martin! Words to live by!
🙂
I like this a lot! Sounds like it was a fun experiment. I’m new to your blog, and will be eager to see more. All best to you, Spilled Ink Guy! 🙂
Thank you so much for stopping by! And for leaving such kind comments as well!
It was quite a bit of fun! Well… once I got SOME results, anyway. I’ve still got a long way to go… but I love alt. processes, so no complaints about that!
🙂
Mackerel, gum bicarbonate . . . . you are a true master of your arts (which you make sound so easy btw!) Love the look on that mackerel’s face!
You are always far too kind, Ms. K, thank you!
Hahaha… he looks a bit like he’s seen me experimenting with gum printing and is wondering, ‘What is wrong with that guy now?’!
🙂
That fish looks sad. You should pick a happier fish. Find an #ExcitedFace fish. One must be out there.
There should be plenty!
Around me, anyway – because they all know I can’t catch them!
🙂