Re: 1st tricolor on Masa. Impressions...

[Katharine Thayer <kthayer@pacifier.com>]

Yep, it all makes sense, which makes me feel better.  (I don't like  
it when things don't make sense.)

But there's another part that just occurred to me,  something I'm  
doing that puts stress on the paper  and could well be adding to this  
problem.  The paper I've been using for the last couple of years  
(Arches bright white) is very crisp and tends to be prone to air  
bubbles that spoil the print if they're left for more than a few  
minutes (unlike other papers I've used where the circles from  
occasional air bubbles are easily rectifiable; a few more minutes in  
the wash and they're gone) so I've developed some habits designed to  
ensure no air bubbles.  One of them is that when I first put the  
paper in the water, I dip it in face up and swish it around for half  
a minute or so, manipulating the paper to wash water repeatedly  
across the print until  the dichromate is rinsed out and the face of  
the print is wet through; then I turn it over and carefully rest it  
face down.  I realized that I've done the same thing with the masa  
paper, since it's such a well-established habit I do it without  
thinking.  So if there's another reason beyond just the stock being a  
lighter stock, it's probably that I need to knock that off when I'm  
working with the masa and just introduce it gently into the water,  
face up, and leave it alone except for occasionally washing some  
fresh water across it (by moving the water, not by moving the paper).

One of those d'oh kind of things.

Thanks everyone, for thoughts,
Katharine



On Oct 12, 2008, at 5:12 PM, Loris Medici wrote:

> 13 Ekim 2008, Pazartesi, 2:33 am tarihinde, Katharine Thayer yazmış:
>
> > ...
> >
> > The thought about my paper being lighter/thinner is an interesting
> > one, if Keith hadn't piped up and said that he also finds the paper
> > extremely difficult to handle when wet, I would think that explains
> > the difference between my experience and others, but as it is I'm
> > inclined to think it's a function of the size of the paper, since
> > Keith and I are printing at similar paper sizes.
> >
> > ...
> Could be, I'll see it for myself (in gum printing context) as soon  
> as I
> purchase: two large sheets of heavy glass (to sandwich the paper and
> negative in between), a high density thin polystyrene foam sheet (for
> cushioning / even pressure distribution), matte black spray paint (for
> painting the light colored foam sheet so that it doesn't reflect  
> UV), and
> small C-clamps (to fasten & apply pressure to the assembly) in  
> order to
> home-build a large contact printing frame and test the paper in large
> sizes. (I already need that for large prints on Fabriano.)
>
> BTW, you may have missed that I mentioned before that I soaked that  
> paper
> for long times, at full and half sheet sizes (but not for gum  
> printing),
> not caring much about delicacy in handling (albeit I wasn't  
> particularly
> heavy handed too) w/o any cracking. On the other hand, I remember  
> Keith
> mentioning that the paper won't do well after 2 gum layers (if I'm not
> mistaking) being as inexperienced as I am, I easily did three coats
> without any problems (apart uneven coating). Those facts still  
> makes me
> think that the difference may be caused by the relatively weaker  
> weight of
> your stock. (Your 70gsm versus my 86 gsm.)
>
>
> > ...
> >
> > I did find that I needed to add water to the coating mix, not because
> > the coating needs to be thinner, but because the sized paper (smooth
> > side) didn't coat as easily -- brush would drag and grab on the sized
> > paper and make it difficult to smooth the coating out.  Which is
> > interesting because unsized, the paper coats very smoothly and
> > nicely.  So I followed Keith's suggestion and added water.  I did
> > find that the more liquid coating would go all wavy as I was coating,
> > but because the paper is so thin, you can coat across the waves
> > without causing any unevenness in the coating.
> >
> > ...
> Thanks for the insight. I haven't experienced any dragging myself  
> but felt
> the coating wasn't even enough with thick emulsion. Did you also  
> realized
> that the paper needs much less emulsion (about 1/2) than Fabriano (or
> similar sturdy / heavy papers)? I'm sure thinner emulsion will do the
> trick in the future, combined with getting more and more used to the
> paper...
>
> Regards,
> Loris.