Re: masa questions Re: Paper negatives- Ink Selection
Slight clarification, after an offlist exchange that showed I'd left
room for confusion:
I don't have any problem with the rough side being "grabby" and I
don't need to add water to coat on the rough side; also when coating
the rough side I don't experience this rippling of the paper.
Unfortunately, I don't like the fuzziness of the rough side and
prefer the crispness of the smooth side; it's the smooth side I'm
going to print on if I use this paper at all, and it's the smooth
side I'm having the problems with. Hope that's clearer. That's why
I was asking Keith especially, because I know he's using the smooth
side, as well as printing at the same half-sheet sizes that I am.
Katharine
On Oct 16, 2008, at 8:38 AM, Katharine Thayer wrote:
On Oct 16, 2008, at 7:25 AM, Keith Gerling wrote:
As I think I have discussed before, I like to
humidify the paper prior to coating to make it less "grabby". Masa
doesn't work that way. In an interim step between humidification and
thinner emulsion, I was spraying the surface of the paper with water.
Since I was diluting it anyway, as a move towards More Consistancy
and
Less Loosey Goosey I just added the water to the mix.
Keith, I was just about to ask you a couple more questions about
masa, and I find you've answered one of them here; it had to do
with the "grabbiness" of the paper. I find this paper
"grabby" (smooth side, sized) in a way that no other paper I've
ever used has been. I don't much like adding water; it does make
the paper less grabby, but I don't like the printing qualities of
the water-added emulsion. It also seems to promote pigment stain,
and the added water makes the paper more wavy/wrinkly while coating.
Which leads to the other question; do you have any special tricks
for registering this paper? I'm managing so far but finding it
rather difficult and time-consuming and a little more hair-
raisingly uncertain than I'm comfortable with. I've learned how
to handle the paper in developing and drying so it dries after each
printing perfectly flat and smooth, but in coating especially with
added water, it gets wavy again; the coated paper dries that way,
all corrugated, which makes it difficult to register. Any
thoughts, suggestions?
I realize I'm crossing threads here, sorry.
Katharine
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