You can create art by scraping photo negatives, but the effects will be permanent.
Practically since true photography was invented in the early 1800s, people have been manipulating images to create art. For example, although sepia toning was done to help photographs keep from fading, the reddish-brown tint became an art form in itself. When Polaroid invented the SX-70 style develop-before-your-eyes film in the 1970s, artistic types realized they could manipulate the still liquid chemicals with a pen cap and create something more than just the snapshot. You can change negatives to create artworks, too, with a little patience and finesse.
Instructions
1. Clean your negatives thoroughly before you start scraping. Dust and particles can get in the way of your art work and cause mistakes. Use lens tissue or a lint-free cloth to carefully and gently clean your negative.
2. Place the negative with the emulsion side up on a light table or light box. The emulsion side is less shiny than the other side. Make sure your light table or light box has a glass surface. If it is plastic, you will damage it by cutting into it.
3. Use the hobby knife to start working where you want to alter the image. Remember that the dark parts of the negative will be the light parts of the print. So when you start scraping into the emulsion, remember not to go too deep or you will lose all detail. Take special care with people's faces.
4. Work delicately with your hobby knife under the magnifier. Take your time. Once you make a scrape, it will be hard to fix it if it is not what you wanted the image to look like.
Tags: emulsion side, hobby knife, light table, light table light, start scraping, table light