L3a-Her Essence

1. Used photograph taken as part of assignment for lesson #1.
2. This started as an IR image.
3. Converted to b&w using an action.
4. Added a color filled layer to tone the image. I have recently found an artist named Jack Spencer http://www.jackspencer.net/ >. I really like his rather moody images. So I selected a color, though perhaps not as dark, to use as a tone. R=157, G=126, B=71. I sent the blend mode to color and opacity=76%.
5. I printed the image on Bergger PN 12 paper. This is old paper that I bought several years ago as it has a ground that you can actually use oil paints on. I bought both PN 11 (Water Color classic) and PN 12 (Water color Tapestry). I had not used these papers and wanted to give it a try. The PN 12 has quite a bit of texture as you can problably see in the printed finished image.
6. Looking for an ICC profile. Since the paper is discontinued, I went to the Bergger site and just had to select a printer profile. I used PN32 as a guess. I sent an email to Bergger support, but as of this writing, I have not heard back.
7. Why a ground? Typical inkjet paper is not impervious to oil. So, if you paint on the papers with oil paints it will soak through. You can test the paper by putting a drop of oil on the paper and see if after 24 hours it has soaked through. This is BAD as eventually the paper will deterioriate (not an archival process). Supposedly you can coat papers with gelatin (the Knox variety) after printing the image to make a ground that will be impervious to oil. You should test your paper before painting to ensure that you have coated successfully. See Theresa Airey books "Digital Photo Art" and Creative Digital Printmaking for more information. Liquitex makes a clear gesson that can also be used as a ground. I have not tried this. Terri Sprinkle also has a recipe for ground on her web site "Introduction to Hand Coloring". Here is the URL http://www.thephotoforum.com/node/26
8. L3a is my starting image for my handcoloring experiment.

NOTE: Gelatin Ground instructions from Terri Sprinkle
Use one packet of unflavored gelatin (Terri uses Knox©, which is available at the grocery store) and combine it with approximately 5 ounces of warm tap water, and let the mixture sit for a few hours. It will cloud up during that time, so you must then gently heat it until it clears. Don’t boil the mixture, and stir while you warm it up. Before you apply it to a digital print, coat some onto the same paper you will be using for the print. Terri uses a wide bristle brush or foam brush to apply the ground to the paper. Let it dry, and then put a small drop of vegetable or linseed oil directly onto the coated paper. Leave it overnight. When you check it the next day, with any luck there will still be a small pool of oil present. Check the back of your paper to ensure nothing has soaked through and the paper is clean and free of any oil spots. This will ensure your paper has sufficient ground to accept your photo oils and oil pencils.