Cyanotype Toning: Beyond the Blue - Sunday, October 18

Learn to tone cyanotype prints using botanical and chemical agents to achieve a range of colors beyond the classic Prussian blue. Beginning with a brief overview of the cyanotype process and the science behind toning, you will proceed to coat and expose watercolor paper to create base cyanotypes. Experimenting with botanical toning baths including green tea, coffee, and safflower petals, you will explore both single-bath and multi-bath toning. You will also learn bleaching with washing soda (sodium carbonate) as a corrective tool. Partial bleaching can restore highlight details and rebalance overexposed or flat prints before toning. You will leave with 3-5 finished prints and the knowledge to continue toning at home.

 No prior cyanotype experience is required, though familiarity with the basic process is helpful.

 Over the past decade, Mohammed has returned to analog photography as a way of reconnecting with craft and materiality. His work often employs unconventional surfaces, including papyrus, to explore the intersection of his Egyptian heritage with contemporary travel, landscape, and street photography. He invites viewers to reflect on how we perceive artifacts, museums, and archaeological sites through our globally connected lenses. Mohammed works across multiple image-transfer and printing techniques—including inkjet, dye sublimation, thermal transfer, cyanotype, and Polaroid emulsion lifts—and is currently focused on the intricacies of carbon transfer printing.

 Instagram:  @popiris_studios.

 Fee:  MarinMOCA Members: $115; Non-members $140

 Materials Fee: An additional materials fee of $15 will be paid to the instructor

 Where:  Marin Museum of Contemporary Art; 1210 Fifth Avenue, San Rafael (at B Street)