Macallan whisky anthotypes

MACALLAN WHISKY ANTHOTYPES FOR MACALLAN ESTATE MENU

I have been approached by  The Macallan whisky to produce designs in cyanotype process  for a new restaurant menu in the Macallan estate in Scotland , inspired by the estate’s habitat. After some initial conversation I suggested working with process of anthotype-plants juices printmaking instead, process described by John Hersher in 1842 using extracted plant juices and sunlight to produce prints of multiple colors which more accurately responded to the brief.

THE PROCESS

I received a list of plants commonly found at the Estate and began testing its printing capabilities. Nettle, brambles, yerrow were among a few found working well.The key colour palette was yellow and green so we focused on those colours by adding a highly light sensitive turmeric to th mix.In the printing process alcohol is commonly used to extract the plant juice-bottle of Macallan whiskey was sent to my studio and incorporated in the printing process.

OUTCOMES

Prints produced were plant’s autoportraits, using their own juice and specimens  in contact with watercolor paper, exposure to sun light in victorian contact printing frames which varies from 1-2 weeks as they have been resting in my studio window.