jewelia (jewelia@erols.com)
Thu, 11 Mar 1999 08:38:51 -0800
to add something to what keith said: Gampi likely would be the easiest
japanese paper to use first for most of you--it has the greatest wet
strength of the three principle fibers. so you'll have less trouble tearing
it by accident, etc....a lot of the japanese papers are tissues you
know--but they are much stronger than what you would expect--far stronger
than that sturdy looking platine or what ever cotton paper you use--a good
friend of mine in japan told me about a local tv show the other week showing
two gentle young ladies pulling apart western cotton paper while two big
sumo wrestling looking types couldn't do in a thin sheet of washi--nice
story!--anyway, again in washi the fibers are more intact, longer, and
better interweaved than any cotton paper in its sweetest dreams could ever
be. but wet stenghth can be depends --they don't tend to have a lot of
additives in them --usually no sizing -- tends to mess up relativity of the
fibers in making sheets -- more on that later--anyway-- unsized cotton
sheets would come all apart in a tray of water in a few minutes --
also--bugs and other critters hate gampi--could just be the most archival
paper you could consider using--drum roll----aaaa!
gampi's disadvantage --there must always be at least one ya' know---is that
it swells and shrinks a lot between wet and dry cycles--so would likely be
the hardest of these fibers to use for any process requiring
registration--ie multiple gum printing.
next:
had a question the other day about flattening tissues -- and this would
apply to any paper that doesn't dry flat enough by itself: rather than use
a dry mount press--they make me cringe and dribble (i must have an extreme
dry mount allergy or somethin') actually i always wanted to find one to
weight down my blotter stack but you know you have to have your
priorties--so i always have bought metallic salts instead, --
as i said---i use a blotter stack. if you would like to do this -- what you
do --- buy yourself a small stack of cosmos blotter paper--it is unsized
acid free cellulose--the museum conservators use this stuff all the time so
no need to jangle your archival netscape---cosmos blotter comes in 24x38
480# for about $3/sht full retail and 40x60 1260# for about $7.50/0sht full
retail--anyone who sells printmaking papers will likely sell this --
i have two stacks made with the 24x38--one is full size sheets and the other
is half-sheets. i bind my smaller size stack of blotters between two sheets
of exterior 3/4# plywood with bungee cords. My large stack goes on my
studio floor--sheet of newsprint on the bottom--a sheet of 3/4 ply on top of
the stack weighted with whatever is convenient--the usual is a couple of 5
gallon pails filled (not to the brim of course) with water or you could use
cinder blocks or---?. try to put your stack where you have good air
circulation and consider running a fan in the room if this is a problem. i
tend to leave work in them for a week of more before i take them out to
allow them to make their journey to a perfect dried out harmony.
now--you could encourage the growth of all kinds of terrible things and have
a tough time drying in a blotter stack if you fill it full of soppy prints.
what i recommend--so take this in contextual stride--is just to let 'em do
their thing on the screen--fun to watch them warble and pop as the edges dry
out faster than the center--its alive!---a lot of papers do go back to flat
once they are all dry--depends on materials --especially the nature of the
size inside?
if they shrivel and curl or otherwise are too strange--what i do -- after
showing due respect to my blessed materials -- is take a misting bottle
filled with distilled water -- and mist the back of the paper ever so
gently -- just enough so that we both feel relaxed -- you know give it a
chance -- once your paper says auuggghh! and relaxes -- again with all due
respect -- place it in your blotter stack -- some people -- particularly
printmakers -- would use a piece of white tissue or interleaving between the
blotter and the print surface--you know to protect the picture and keep the
blotters clean
Kitikata:
i use a good bit of kitikata--and there seems to be several versions of
this--some with kozo and some with gampi?--you can get it from most every
art paper supplier--its softly more absorbent (and cheaper cause its not
handmade--not what i use anyway) so will be more absorbent as is than a
quality hand made paper--hows that? i size it often before using it with a
starch to change the surface character or most often to do a sort of
backwards approach to chine colle'--you can't soak it in a tray--you have to
brush it with just a little gentle regard with something soft on a flat
surface--i do both sides--if you're quick and calm you can get it turned
over without goofing up the corners--& I leave it there until its getting
toward dry and finish it off on a screen--it will dry with a very amazing
pucker--making it totally useless for most things as it is--i just use the
mist/blot procedure as above and it comes out snappy-flat crisp without
adhering to my blotters--but you might take it easy on the weighting--(i
usually tear it to the size i'll want just before i mist it--you know you
should never cut a japanese paper -- that's what i've been told -- and i
imagine -- that cutting washi is considered very, very bad and
inconsiderate -- you should always pull & tear washi to considered
pieces! -- you paint a thin line of clean water where you want the tear and
use a straight edge & sort of pull it apart as much as tear if that makes
sense)
enough of babbling jewelia for today
jewelia margueritta cameroon
jewelia@erols.com
works on paper
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