(2023) Steeped in Blue: Exploring Sun Print Process on a Tea Bag for Your Art Journal
In this post, learn how to use the cyanotype process to bring out the best characteristics of both paper and fabric.
You can’t help but love the “blue art” or “sunprints” that are made using an alternative photography process called cyanotype. Right?
I think the contrast of the dark blue against the white background is one of my favorite looks.
Why a tea bag as a surface for the cyanotype process? I list my reasons for using tea bags for my art in this blog post, but tea bags are especially suited to this alternative process because they give me the best surfaces of both paper and fabric.
Supplies for making DIY cyanotype prints on tea bags:
Cyanotype Sensitizer Set - chemicals for cyanotype process
Pressed flowers to use as masks
Clean, unused tea bags
Small plastic cup
Soft brush or foam brush
Glass or plexi that will cover the tea bags with the flowers
Portable base to lay tea bags with masks out
Sink with running water for rinsing the tea bags
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The Process:
Layout your tea bags on a portable surface that you can take out into the sun.
I’m using a glass shelf as my portable surface. It’s tempered glass which is safer than regular glass.
In a dark room (just no sunlight, incandescent is fine), mix the cyanotype sensitizing chemicals together. The proportions of Part A to Part B is one-to-one. I mix one capful of Part A with one capful of Part B together in a plastic cup. I can coat ten tea bags with this amount.
Coat the mixture on clean, white tea bags using a soft brush or a foam brush.
There is no smell with these chemicals, but they can stain your cuticles. Read the directions on the bottles for how to safely use them.
Cyanotype supplies with tea bags on tempered glass.
Leave the tea bags to dry in the dark room. Remember, this is a light-sensitive photo process. UV light, like sunlight, will cause the chemical to “develop” prematurely.
The incandescent light was low in the bathroom when I photographed these coated tea bags.
When the tea bags are dry, lay the pressed flowers or other masks on the tea bags. Cover them with another piece of glass or clean plexiglass to keep the masks in place. Once the masks are in place, they can be moved until they are exposed to the sun.
Here are my pressed flowers that I use as masks for the cyanotype process on tea bags.
After the tea bags and masks have been in the sun for a few minutes, the chemical will get darker.
After a few minutes, the color on the tea bags will change. It will get darker. You can leave the tea bags and masks in the sun for at least 20 minutes, but they can stay out longer depending on the sun. Bright sun processes them faster.
When time is up, take the whole setup back in the house and remove the cover glass or plexiglass and the masks. Put the tea bags under running water for a few minutes and rinse out the undeveloped chemical.
The cyanotype chemical under the masks will not be processed and will rinse out with running water.
Layout the wet tea bags to dry on newsprint or brown paper.
Cyanotype process on tea bags ready for art journal
All that’s left to do is decorate them with stitching, fabric bits, and put them in your art journal.
If you experiment using cyanotype and tea bags for your art journal and would like to share your experience, please leave a comment. I’d love to know what you’re creating!
