> Loris, several years ago I had the same bright idea, to prepare black
> paper by coloring white paper black with ink, and thought I'd share
> my experience here for whatever it's worth to you.
>
> You were right to wonder whether "china ink" (by which I assume you
> mean something like a sumi ink, or like what is often called here
> "india ink") is waterproof. It didn't even occur to me to wonder; I
> just assumed that when the bottle said "permanent" that meant it
> wouldn't come off once it was dry. Imagine my surprise when I
> started coating gum on it, and found that the wet coating lifted the
> ink and spread it around, turning the white paint grey and turning
> the underlying black background into a smeary mess. Sizing over it
> would have the same effect; the wet brush would pick up the ink and
> smear it around, spoiling the solid black background.
>
> I learned that there's a difference between "permanent" and
> "waterproof" although at this distance I couldn't explain why
> "permanent" is called "permanent" if it's not waterproof. At any
> rate, I bought about eight different kinds of ink during this
> exploration, and I found that if the ink was "permanent" but not
> waterproof, then it wouldn't stay put when moistened, as described
> above, and if the ink was "waterproof" then it formed an impenetrable
> rubbery surface that repelled gum, or anything else wet that was put
> on it.
>
> Someone on the list asked why didn't I just use Stonehenge black
> paper (I had tried Arches Cover black and didn't like the coarse,
> open texture). I did order a sheet of it to try, but it's still in
> my flat file waiting to be gotten back to. It's not an expensive
> paper, less than $2 a sheet, and I know Stonehenge prints gum well,
> or did, some 10-15 years ago.
>
> Just some thoughts, from someone who wasted some time and money
> going down that particular road,
> Katharine
>