Anthrotypes

Anthrotypes are like cyanotypes but with natural materials like turmeric, spinach, or red cabbage. They take much longer to process, and have more subtle results and impermanent results. It makes for a fun experiment with students. For our NIH-SEPA grant teacher cohort, I cooked up a few baths using turmeric, blue butterfly pea flowers, red cabbage, Hopi red amaranth, and ground annatto seeds.

The baths, ready for experimenting!

Materials:

1. jars

2. plant matter

3. a saucepan

4. water (distilled or rainwater)

5. a coffee filter (optional)

6. a bush

7. objects

8. a piece of paper

9. sunlight

10. glass or plastic sheet (optional)

Process:

1. Cover the plant matter with water and simmer for 30 minutes. Let it steep overnight.

2. (Optional) pour through a coffee filter to remove particles.

3. Paint the color bath onto the paper

4. Place the objects on the paper in the sunlight.

5. Cover with glass or plastic to protect

6. Leave for several hours or days until you notice the color has faded in the sunlight.