Sunday, September 19, 2010


I've been curious about paper making recently and over the weekend experimented with a hybrid linen cloth & 100% cotton rag watercolor paper blend to form a stronger than average handmade watercolor paper (Am I crazy?). I've contacted several specialized paper companies and wish to learn more about this historical process. Very labor intensive but rewarding to say the least.

13 comments:

Adam said...

This is awesome! I'm curious of the process of how to make such paper.

Joseph said...

When I was in art school I used to love making my own paper, it was a lot of fun, never made anything that looks as nice as yours though

DSM said...

Wowee...nice photo essay. Like those classy copper pins on your mesh support....

My biggest problem with friends' papers have been uneven sizing. I'd go along with a loaded brush and my line would be true then, BLUB!, a big bloom of paint on an unsized bit. Looks like you got it all together.

samacleod said...

That's really awesome. i was just having this conversation with someone this week, why don't artists know MORE about paper, we use it all the time and know very little. This is really cool, thanks for posting the process pictures, great to see!

Anonymous said...

I'm wondering how you size the watercolor paper so that there is no bleed-through? I've made paper in the past but nothing that would have worked with watercolor paint.

E.Tiemens said...

I'm curious about sizing as well. I did a tub sizing, but after I ironed the sheet of paper. I noticed it started to get very weak in the mixture. They say it is best to wait two weeks to add sizing for added strength. It is ideal to do two thin coats of sizing rather than one dense one. Unsized paper is known as waterleaf. When I tested my sheet of paper after my first sizing it was a bit too absorbent. I will probably wait another week and do more coats of sizing. Still experimenting!

-Erik

Tim Holton said...

Erik

If you don't already know about Dard Hunter, who was probably America's greatest authority on papermaking, his grandson, Dard Hunter III, is an active craftsman and entrepreneur in Chillicothe, OH (about an hour south of Columbus) who's done a fantastic job of maintaining the family home there, with great information and material on his grandfather. His site has much on Dard Hunter: http://www.dardhunter.com/papermaking.htm . If you ever get the chance to visit, I suspect you'd get a lot out of it. I understand that Dard III is quite an expert himself. (Chillicothe's' a beautiful town, too.)
-- Tim Holton

E.Tiemens said...

Thanks Tim for the great info! I will make a note about that.

Cheers,

Erik

Hattermad said...

Twinrocker. They make some of the best heavy duty paper and will answer questions too (as well they have some cool papermaking kits/supplies)

Anonymous said...

Another good papermaking place:

http://www.st-armand.com/

Kendra Melton said...

Inspiring. I've always had an interest in paper but never took the time to understand it. This got me back in touch with that interest. Good luck on your paper journey

Ecima said...

Hello Eric,
the idea to produce papers by yourself ins pretty good. You won't get any papers in this fashin anywhere in the world!
But someone who knows how to do it, and he produces pretty papers is John Gerard
look at his homepage:
http://www.gerard-paperworks.com/.
He is american and a really good artist in making of papers, but lives in germany.
Thanks for all your samples and advices!
Greetings from Germany!
Manfred

E.Tiemens said...

Manfred,

Thank you for the German link of John Gerard. It is a whole other world how refined and varied traditional paper making can help expand the creative process. I'm humbled on how much work it takes to create homemade watercolor paper, wow!

All the best

Erik