Re: Arches Aquarelle and Gum

[sam wang <stwang@bellsouth.net>]

On Feb 19, 2007, at 10:06 AM, Michael Koch-Schulte wrote:

> Things went from bad to worse. The first problem was that when the  
> Arches
> Aquarelle dried it dried very warped. My intent was to start with a
> cyanotype II blue layer first. Bad choice, completely pocked marked  
> with
> yellow spots, then I noticed things (like brown-green cobwebs)  
> floating in
> the wash water. Yuck!. It all went into the bin. I think it might  
> work for a
> one-coat process that didn't require multiple soakings. I switched to
> Fabriano Artistico late into the evening and it looked much more  
> promising.
> Thx.
>
> ~m
Michael,

I think Judy is right about the changes between paper batches. At  
least some of the Arches Watercolor paper that I used appeared to be  
sized with unhardened gelatin - they smelled like that and left gooey  
mess in the developing water.

I have wondered about hardening it with formaldehyde, but decided  
it's too much trouble. Luckily we have painters and draftsmen  
perfectly willing to inherit free paper...

Sam Wang