Turning Blue

In which I share a little about making cyanotypes and preparing for seasonal depression on a grey, cloudy day.

Cyanotypes also known as sun prints are a photographic process in which paper (or other materials, like fabric) is coated with a liquid iron compound then exposed to UV light and water to reveal a lovely shade of blue.

My good friend and endlessly talented photographer Ariel Skovera taught me how to create cyanotypes last year and I find myself circling back to them often when I need a break from my regular illustration work.

You can illustrate designs using oil based markers on acetate to create your cyanotypes. The oil based pigment is opaque enough that the UV light won’t travel through it, and will leave the white paper exposed. You can achieve the same effect by layering your paper with opaque to semi-opaque objects like cut paper, pressed botanicals, or photo negatives.

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say - this month has been rough. Post-election and end-of-semester (I work at a university) stress aside, it’s the time of year when the autumnal oranges and yellows painted across Pittsburgh’s hills turn grey to warn us winter is coming. The last of the fall leaves are hanging on for dear life, and as everything turns cold and drab, I feel like I am, too.

After you expose your materials to UV light, either under a lamp or the sun, you can remove loose materials from your paper. The color should be a darker, split pea soup looking green.

Today, as I closely monitored the weather as my lunch break approached, I prepared a design to cyanotype (pictured above). From inside the library where I work, I could see golden sun reflecting off the buildings. A good sign, as I planned to take my cyanotype outside to expose in the sun so I could record the process to share with you!

Unfortunately, a few minutes into my break, the sky turned dark. I foolishly left my sweater inside and it was cold. And of course, it started raining. So, I did the only thing I could and went back inside to stare at a freshly painted grey wall for the next 45 minutes.

The winter blues are very real for me. Don’t get me wrong - I love cold weather and I love autumn. I love bundling up and being cozy. But there is something about this city, when the weather turns and the nights come early, that takes everything out of me. A past version of myself would use this as an excuse to rot inside my apartment alone until spring. A past version of myself loved isolating and blowing off friends and family and skipping showers for handfuls of days at a time and calling it winter hibernation.

The last step is to wash your print with water. If using a basin, you can add a bit of hydrogen peroxide (maybe a cap full) to expedite the oxidation. At this point, your print is turning blue!

It’s still hard. As we get closer to winter, getting out of bed becomes nearly impossible. I don’t want to brush my teeth or prepare nutritious meals or take two buses to work. But I do.

And instead of rotting, waiting for the joys of the outside world to come back to life, I decide to make my own.

I can’t lay out in the golden leaves on a crisp, cozy day when the leaves are damp and the days are damper. I can’t take an afterwork stroll with a hot cocoa when the sun sets at 4 PM. But I can lay in a bundle of soft blankets with David and my three cats. I can brew a hot cocoa at home and look for stars from my front window.

I can’t hold my cyanotype under the sun and watch the magic of light turn nothing into something beautiful. But I can expose them beneath a lamp, and watch nothing become something just the same, and just as beautiful.

The days are turning gray and I am turning blue. But I find little joys where I can. I make art regardless. And I hope you can, too.

xoxo Angela

If you’re a paid member, please feel free to follow the link below to download a printable zine with a step-by-step guide on how to create cyanotypes!

If you create a cyanotype of your own, I’d love for you to share it with me.