I'd like to talk a bit more about them. There is a wide variety of papers made each with a unique purpose, I'd like to share a bit of what I know about each of them.
Let's first explore watercolor paper. There is a wide variety of mills that create watercolor papers. The are manufactured using a variety of techniques and a even wider variety of coatings. Some are 100& Cotton rag and others are not. Most will be archival and acid-free, created that way either during the internal or external processes previously discussed and determined by the paper mill. Sheet sizes vary as well as whether they are hot-pressed or a cold-pressed paper. One important thing I can tell you, you'll pay more purchasing them by the sheet than you will through some art suppliers buying them in sheets of 10, 25, or even 100.
Besides being available in only sheets, watercolor papers are also available in pads or tablets. Some loose leaf in nature while others are blocks. Blocks are just as the name states, sheets of a pre-cut size are layered one upon another and slightly adhered together on all four corners. You simply slip a butter knife, metal bookbinding spatula, or a palette knife in between the sheets on the sides and gently lift the paper adhered corners to remove a sheet. Some artist's prefer working directly on the pad, but most will remove the individual sheets to work on them one at a time. Another product for watercolor use in watercolor canvases, often available in packs. They provide a distinct watercolor appearane that can only be achieved on canvas. Fun and exciting to play with!
Just like any papers available on the market today, each artist has their own personal preferences for brands and style of watercolor paper. For the artist beginning, I wouldn't suggest purchasing the more expensive sheets for practicing and playing with watercolors. Practice first, vary your techniques, then when you are more comfortable try a more expensive brand. Sampler packs are great, too. They allow you to try a brand using different sheets in a variety of weights and both in a hot-press and cold-press manufacturing process and a lot of different sized are available. Arches offers a variety of sample packs and most are the 11"x15" size, making storage a bit easier for the beginner.
I want to also talk about Yupo... Yupo is a great product for the beginning watercolor artist because it is a translucent, synthetic plastic and is also available in clear. It allows you to simply play with watercolors, experimenting and adding new dimensions to your artwork. Best of all, if you don't like a piece of artwork you create, simply rinse it off. Yupo is reusable, over and over again. Since it is a synthetic plastic, you do have to be careful not to touch the surface of it with your hands as oils from your skin can cause the watercolors to dispurse unevenly. If you do, simply clean the Yupo with a window cleaner and wipe it clean and wait for the surface to completely dry before starting again. Some watercolors contain a staining medium in them, watercolors that do have staining properties will stain Yupo. It won't effect it's playful performance, but show through some areas of transparent watercolors.
What's so special about it? As I've mentioned Yupo is a beginning watercolor artists dream come true! If you do a google search for it you may stumble across a few tutorials using it. One of my favorite techniques is to use the Yupo for a watercolor mono-printing technique. Here's how I do it. I lightly water the surface of Yupo by spraying distilled water onto its slick surface then I add my watercolor in a desired color. I spritz it to spread it out, sometimes use a brush to move it around a bit, then I take a dampened sheet of watercolor paper and lay it over the Yupo and using my hands gently burnish the backside of the watercolor paper. You can create some amazing watercolor monoprints this way. Say that I desire to add more than one color to a sheet, I simply absorb all the watercolor off using as many sheets of waterpaper as I need to remove the watercolors from the Yupo, then rinse and dry the Yupo using a dry soft towel and begin again using my next color of choice. After spritzing and playing with my brush moving the paint around, I take the previously monoprinted paper and lay it down on the new color and burnish once again with my hands. As long as the watercolor paper is slightly dampened, the colors will blend. If I desire more blending, I simply spritz the watercolor paper and sometimes add some gently movement to the paper. Try it! I promise you'll love it! And I'm not too big on watercoloring with paints in the tube! LOL!
Printmaking Papers
Printmaking papers are just as fun and exciting to me. They are again machine-made papers, normally containing cotton rag with a ph neutral for a variety of purposes and uses. The are ideal for printmaking, etching, silkscreen printing and drawing on. Stonehedge and BFK Rives are the ones I'm most familiar with and both are comparable to the weight of approximately a 140 lb. watercolor sheet, it accepts watercolor well, fun to play with inks, pastels, and charcoal drawings upon and a variety of mixed media applications and techniques. Just plain fun stuff!
Oriental Papers
The majority of oriental papers will be manufactured in Japan by traditional Japanese papermakers, however all are not. Look at the information on websites and art supply stores to discover a variety of other manufaturers such a Thialand and others. They will usually state where they are from. Kozo is a popular oriental paper, sort of manilla ivory in color with deckled edges. It has a light linen woven surface texture and is ideal for drawing, bookbinding, charcoal pencil artwork, printmaking, collage, digital imaging and can be ran through laser printers as it will withstand the heat.
Mulberry paper
One of my favorites to add visual interest and texture to artwork! It is archival so it is great for creating scrapbooks and safe for those who desire an acid-free environment. It is a combination of Kozo, mentioned above, and a sulphite that assists in making it very absorbent. In fact, many artist wet it along a crease or use a paintbrush or wet q-tip to draw a free-hand design before tearing it. It really is one the most versatile of the oriental papers and is available in a wide variety of colors. It is amazing stamped upon, drawed upon, printed on, and for use in collage work. Some artists use it along in a variety of colors to create beautiful landscapes.
Sukisku
Sukisku is another amazing paper. Great for calligraphy inks and writing, collage, and Sumi painting.
Masa
Masa is great for drawing on, it has two sides, one smooth and one with a texture, making it a wonderful product for color pencils drawings and artwork, It can be used in printmaking, silkscreening, woodcuts and linocut artwork as well as leterpressing. It also accepts watercolor inks with ease.
Kitakata
Kitakata is printmaker's dream, it is smooth enough for calligraphy, digital printing, woodcuttings. Super strong and has a silk feel to its surface and has deckled edges.
Unryu
Unryu is a combination paper, make of Kozo, manilla, hemp and sulphites it has an off white color and long fibers that are visible in the paper. It is a great all purpose decorative paper for covering bookboards and boxes and very versatile with mixed mediums.
Kinwashi
Kinwashi is made of 90% manilla and contains very thick fibers with a golden reflecting often resembling tinsel. Very strong and works well with airbrushing, sumi-e inks and paintings, silkscreening applications, bookbinding and collage work. It takes color beautifully.
Japan isn't the only papermaking country that specializes in paper. Thialand offers a wide variety as well. There are a variety of paper mills in France, England, Canada, Mexico and in the US, and this isn't even an all inclusive list! Paper is everywhere, available in so many sizes, purposes and uses for it, and and in a variety of weights and coatings. The easiest way that I've found to learn about paper is to request art supply catalogs, contact various mills, request samplers or purchase them and to read about them online. There is such a wide variety of things that you can use paper for, mediums that they will willing accept, and technqiues to learn. Just about anything you can do with fabric you can do with paper except possibly wear it on a rainy day! But more importantly, learn what it is, how it is made, what it contains, how is coated, is it archival, and what mediums it will accept. I promise you, you'll be so happy you did, heck, you may even discover ways to use it that it was never intended for. Anyways, have fun!!!
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