Sun prints, or cyanotypes, are a simple and effective way of creating art using the sun. You can buy kits online or from craft stores, that will come with instructions but here’s a quick guide to how to get started.
1. Take a piece of heavy duty paper. It’s going to get washed with the solutions so it needs to be able to withstand that. Sometimes the paper will come ready prepared; with other kits you will need to mix equal parts of the two solutions they give you, paint it on the paper and leave it to dry completely. Once you are practised at it, you can use fabric, too.
2. Once your paper is ready to use, place your objects on it and arrange them. You can print with any objects you like but flowers, leaves and branches with interesting silhouettes look really effective. Plants like fern are great as they have a delicate pattern for the sun to pick out.
3. When you’re happy with your composition, weigh it down with something transparent like a piece of glass. The glass from inside a picture frame is ideal. Put the whole thing outside and let the sun do its work.
4. Your paper will turn blueish then a grey colour, which is when you’ll know it's done. How long it takes will depend on how sunny it is. You can do cyanotypes even on a cloudy day - it will just take around 15 minutes then, whereas in strong sunlight it may only take a minute or two.
5. Take a washing up bowl or in-tray - anything that the paper will fit into easily, fill with cold water and place the paper in it. The blue colour will deepen as it washes. Remove after a few seconds and hang somewhere to dry completely. The colour will continue to deepen during the drying process.
6. Frame your print and feel very pleased with yourself.
If you’re feeling inspired, you can meet cyanotype artist, Mandy Barker, and see some of her work (also pictured above) in our August issue in our feature Out of the Blue. For more information about Mandy’s work and to buy the book, visit mandy-barker.com. Photography copyright: Mandy Barker
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