Anyways, in many ways it got me to thinking about starting yet another art journal for myself. The majority of my life, I've journal in journals and if you read the previous thread you may have read where I stated half of my life is in note written pages, as I work to re-organized my studio, I realized that could not be truer! I've a few piles of loose sheets of paper to go through at some point and time, I'll need to organize them but for now, I'm desiring to begin a new art journal for myself.
One of the drawbacks is that I love to create in a variety of mediums, so the paper that I choose definately is affected by the medium of choice at any givin' time. I don't like to pre-establish anything that will limit the medium that I desire to create in so I thought maybe I should write up something that others may find useful about what affects my decision making process of which papers to use.
First and foremost, is the medium that I choose to use... whether it is a colored pencil drawing, acrylic paint, watercolors, the paper itself or a technique I desire to create greatly affects my choice. Other factors that determine the base upon which I work is whether the paper itself, how it is manufactured and produced, and whether it is handmade {by me or others or even purchased}, mould-made, or machine-made. Understanding each of the process of papermaking assists me greatly and it should you as well. If you are already a paper arts artist, crafter, or whatever you desire to title yourself, you have probably already decided upon a paper to use at some point whether you made that decision unconsciously or consciously, but regardless, here are some interesting points to make note of. For me is just as exciting as creating upon its surface! Let's do some exploring of the different types of papers.....
- Handmade papers - usually available in both large and small sheets and normally created by highly skilled craftsmen or handmade paper artists using natural or speciality fibers, particularly cotton and/or linen flax and various other materials that are used to impart a special characteristic to the paper. Most handmade papers have an often irregular surface that many find appealing to their artwork. Inclusions may be added and often consist of dried floral petals and a variety of greenery, seeds, torn newspaper print, glitter, and tinsel as well as a variety of other flat objects. Although the handmade papers can be a bit more expensive they are usually some of the most beautiful sheets you'll ever see.
- Mould-made papers - have a random distribution and often a thicker arrangement of fibers but are moulded using a high speed cylinder mould machines that stimulate the appearance of the handmade paper process. Generally, these sheets are more durable under intense use.
- Machine-made papers - have a surface texture that is more mechanical in nature than the handmade or mould-made and are normally less durable. They make great papers to draw and sketch on due to their smooth regular textures but do not make the mistake that these will have the same durability or appearance and feel of the handmade or mould-made papers.
Several factors that effect papers, especially the machine-made ones are the ingredients used to create the papers themselves. Two common ingredients are cotton rag and wood-pulp so I'll discuss both of them.
Cotton rag is normally made using the longest fibers and some of the highest quality fibers. Some of these paper can last up to a hundred years and can generally handle intense use. Heavy erasing and re-working show minimal signs of wear and tear upon their surfaces and the cotton used in this process is normally torn or beaten into indivudual fibers within a vat and by beaters to create a thick consistency of the pulp used to create and mould this paper.
Another ingredient is cellulose, a wood pulp, that produces a lesser quality of paper than the cotton rag does. Containing wood pulp creates yet another factor to consider for the paper artist as it contains a high-acid content of paper on the ph scale that will eventually effect the paper breaking it down over time. The yellowing that you see in newspaper print or in construction paper is a great example. It is a result of the acidity of the wood pulp. Lignin contained within the wood pulp also plays a role in the acidity of the paper yet tends to add some strength to the process of papermaking. The good news is that buffers, such as calcium-bicarbonate, can be added to the process to produce an acid-free cellulose paper like many of the acid-free printed papers and cardstocks available today.
Other papers offer a mixture of the two, cotton rag and wood-pulp in pre-determined amounts. It simply depends upon the paper mill and the proces and type of paper they desire to produce at a given time.
Sizing of a paper is also another concern, but something the beginning paper artist may not fully understand. Sizing is a material, such as gelatine, casein, starch, or a rosin that is added to the papers to make the surface of the paper less absorbant so that paints and other artistic mediums do not absorb deeply into the fibers of the paper. There are two ways in which sizing can be added to the paper-manufacturing process, internal and external. Internal sizing is when any of the above mentioned materials are added while the paper is in a liquid state, commonly known as pulp. External sizing is when any of the materials are added to the surface of the paper after the paper has been manufactured from the pulp and is dried. Like the cotton rag and wood-pulp mentioned above, some mills will use a combination of internal and external sizing.
So what does that mean to you? Generally, the more a paper is sized and depending upon the material used to size the paper, the harder the paper will become and the more durable it will be against reworking, scrubbing or scumbling. Sizing also effects the grain of a paper, whick I'll discuss more in a bit, but for now let's look at the paper's surface texture.
There are three different methods that result in different textures in papermaking and each produce a different visual and workablity effect. Those processes are known as rough, coldpress, and hotpress processes.
- Rough - is when the surface of the paper has a prominent surface texture or tooth that you can visually see. Think watercolor or sketch paper here, that surface is created by the natural result of papermaking process in which the paper is allowed to dry without smooching or pressing.
- Cold-press - is when the surface of the paper has a moderate amount of surface texture or tooth. It is a result of pressing the wet paper during the process to smooth the paper slightly. Cold-press papers are the most common choice of papers by the paper artist due to the surface texture.
- Hot-press - is when the surface of the paper has a smooth texture and little or any tooth to the surface. Most smooth and coated cardstocks are hot-pressed although some with textures may be created using a cold-press method as well. This process is created by the passing over the freshly made paper through heated cylinders or rollers during the papermaking process. Watercolors used on hot-press watercolor papers are more loose and difficult to control, yet produce some beautiful blended effects and this paper is excellent for drawing and sketching upon with charcoals and colored pencils.
After the above process is completed the paper is then dried. The drying process also varies by the paper being produced some are hung to air-dry and others are kiln-dried during the papermaking process. Then the weight of a paper is determined. Generally, the paper is cut into large sheets, normally a 22"x30" sheet, and measured by the weight of a ream {500 sheets}. For most artist's papers weights include 60, 80,90,140, 200, 260, and 300 pounds. Heavier weight papers are normally thicker and will withstand more water application without buckling , curling, or warping and can be handled much more often and withstand more abuse than a lower weight and thinner paper can.
Now that you know the processes, ingredients, and methods used to create the various papers, how each handles differnent artistic mediums, does that affect the paper you'll used in your paper art creations?
Well, it does me, especially if I desire to create an artist's journal that I love! I don't want to set any limits to the mediums that I have at my disposal such as acrylic paints, watercolors, colored pencils, pens, inks, and chalks. Nor do I desire the paper to be effectd the techniques or methods I'll use in creating an artist's journal. I desire to work with a variety of papers, everything form printed papers, smooth cardstocks, textured cardstock, drawing and sketch papers, vellums, and watercolored sheets.
The size of the journal that I'll create is also a consideration for me. Since this will be my first artist journal created in this fashion, I believe I'm going to start out using a standard half sheet size, measuring 5 1/2"x 8 1/2". You did know that a standard paper size is 8 1/2" x 11", didn't you? {smiles}
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