By Serrena Khanna’25

Materials:

1. A fired ceramic piece 

2. Cyanotype solution A

3. Cyanotype solution B

4. Measuring cylinder

5. Paintbrush

6. Negative

7. 50 Watt UV Lamp

8. Ruler

9. Clear Tape

10. Hydrogen peroxide

11. Tissue Paper

Steps:

1. Create the cyanotype mixture by mixing solutions A and B by a 1 to 1 ratio into the measuring cylinder to make the final cyanotype mixture. 

2. Once the mixture is created, use the paintbrush to paint the mixture on the ceramic piece away from UV light. It is going to absorb it quite quickly but paint around 5 layers on the face of the piece.

3. Once painted store the piece in a dark place to let it dry overnight.

4. The next day, calculate the UV lamp’s height to be high enough for the light to cover the whole piece( my height was 13 inches), and switch the lamp on. Put the piece under the lamp with the negative placed on top. If the surface of the piece is rounded it is highly recommended to attach clear tape to get the negative to be as close to the ceramic as possible. Set a timer.

   a) Test times that work for you with your height. My first trial was 17 minutes long. 

   When the time is over, switch the lamp off.  Remove the negative from the ceramic and rinse the ceramic under water carefully for 5 minutes. Use a tissue paper to soak the excess water left. 

5. Pour enough hydrogen peroxide to cover the whole cyanotype for the blue color to be more vivid. Leave to dry overnight.

6. Now you have a ceramic cyanotype!

Extra Tips: 

1. You are going to have to do many different trials so be mindful of that!

2. Be delicate with your ceramic pieces as they are very fragile!

3. After the cyanotype is printed on the piece, keep the piece out of UV light as it could still change color.