The art looks like a botanical illustration from another century — crisp white ferns and leaves suspended in deep Prussian blue. And you can make it with two chemicals, a handful of plants, and a sunny afternoon.
Cyanotype is a photographic printing process that needs no darkroom, no special camera, and no chemistry background. In this complete beginner’s guide, retired art teacher June Holloway shares the exact step-by-step process she’s used with hundreds of students — mixing and coating sensitized paper, exposing your first photogram with sunlight, printing photographs from digital negatives, and troubleshooting the three problems that derail most beginners before their first print even dries.
You’ll also learn to tone prints with tea, coffee, and botanicals to shift the classic blue toward warm browns and purples — a technique most books skip entirely.
Everything in this book works on a kitchen table with supplies that cost under $40. By the end, you’ll have a finished print and know exactly how to make the next one.
