I adore paper - in the way some women adore shoes - (which makes me inexpensive to maintain!)
I learnt to make it in 1978 but it was too much like housework! Please note that this is only about the paper I use.
I have also tried to educate myself about paper and in this series I will share how I did this, where I buy it and which paper I use for what. So its all very much personal taste and "fit for purpose"
Here are the things I do (we'll ignore gift wrapping, digital printing and pattern making)
My self-education programme started with looking through Letter Arts Review and writing down the names of papers that different calligraphers used and what their media were. This was 25 years ago, in South Africa. Moving here in 1989 has made all these wonderful papers accessible.Anyway, I learnt that Saunders Waterford Hot Pressed was very popular in the UK and was used for lettering of a very high calibre of formal craftmanship.
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| Saunders Waterford embossing - but note that here this is on a watercolour textured paper |
Saunders Waterford Hot Pressed Paper: At the paper mill, this paper is run between heated rollers to give it an very smooth finish. This is ideal for Formal Calligraphy; sharp letters and fine detail painting, neither of which really features in my radar. It feels lovely to handle but out of context can look rather ordinary especially without artwork to adorn it. I would certainly advocate it for competition work where each letter will be judged. For my own part, I'll always sacrifice a bit of finish for paper with more "bite" and texture. In most art shops it is as follows...
100% cotton
90lb or 140lb, or in metric terms: 190gsm or 300gsm.
(as a guide - bond paper is 80 - 100gsm, business cards are 300gsm)
56cm X 76cm
Long grain (i.e. the grain direction is parallel to the long side - 76cm)
4 deckle edges.- just look at them in the photo - yum.
Off-white
(It is also available in a roll)
Pushing the boundaries with Saunders Hot pressed: If you rub chalk pastel all over it to colour it, then really rub it into the fibres with cotton wool and blow the excess powder off, you will find a lovely colourful sympathetic surface with more bite and you'll still be able to do sharp letters. Painting it with a watercolour wash is more complicated - you have to stretch it first, then do a wash. Wetting the paper raises the fibres and makes it more porous, so it needs to be resized with gum sanderac to fill those little gaps. Too much gum sanderac and it's like writing on cellophane, too little and it bleeds.You could probably spray it with fixative - but don't quote me. Remember I don't really do formal lettering and I don't use it often. But I'm going to do some wild experimenting on it in the Summer for a project where we have to use HP. Watch this space!
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