Papers

[Former_Member]

I'm slowly switching from printing on cards to doing regular prints and want to know some of your favorite papers to use and why!

Thanks in advance for in the input!

[WilliamLeeHolt]

I've always been happy with BFK. Am experimenting with Stonehenge, as it has a bit smoother tooth. But it is also much stiffer. Also, Hoshu is a beautiful paper, especially if you are printing without a press.l

[Former_Member]

Rives BFK is a beautiful paper, especially for intaglio.

[Former_Member]

Thanks! I'm a completely self-taught printmaker, so this kind of help is always useful!

[LynnBaileyPrintmaker]

The fibbers that the paper is made from is the most important factor. Cartridge paper is made from treated wood pulp. Even when it is described as acid fee or alkaline buffered, the fibbers will gradually break down – and the natural by product is sulphuric acid which will contribute to accelerating the break down. Papers such as the Rives BFK mentioned above is made from cotton fibbers. These are longer and stronger than wood pulp fibbers and will take a lot longer to break down. This will give your artwork a shelf life of 100’s of years rather than just a couple of decades. This will greatly affect the prices that you can legitimately ask for your work.

There is a vast range of lovely papers available. With different weights, colours and textures. This can be rather overwhelming. I don’t know about America, but here you can get paper samples from the paper merchants. (Some will give small off-cuts, some will charge for a booklet of papers). I recommend that you get your hands on some samples and try them out and see what suits you and your prints.

Personally I am fond of Somerset 300gm velvet cotton paper. I use their natural white rather than the radiant white as I find that more sympathetic to my rather organic subject matter. I like my papers to have a soft texture as I find the contrast with the area ‘burnished’ by the etching plate rather pleasing. I also use a heavy weight because my work usually results in a lot of embossing.

However I see you are doing lino cuts. You would find a smoother texture will result in a more reliable solid colour. I rather like Zerkall for relief prints. Japanese papers are gorgeous but can be very expensive.
Good luck...

[FrewinPrint]

I've recently switched to JPP Mouldmade 285gsm from John Purcell Paper in London. They were really helpful, offered advise and were happy to supply some sample papers for me to experiment with before placing an order. They might be able to recommend a supplier in the USA.

[VivaCandita]

Kozo is good and very durable. I like Rives BFK lightweight too. Both are excellent for relief prints. Are you using a press?

[AnaDoraArt]

You have two products:
1. Cards. The paper shall be Verge or Color Plus (cheaper) 180g or similar, because the customers write in, cannot be a paper who absorbs ink or blur
2. Print Art. Well, in this item you can follow the tips of everyone of us, including mine.
cost / benefit: Hahnemuhle, German paper, 100% cotton,
Canson Gravure, French paper is the best I have ever used, but very expensive .
Good Luck from Brazil!

[minouette]

I love Japanese paper for printing linocuts, by hand without a press. (I use a baren like one would for Japanese-style moku hanga woodblock prints). There is a huge variety of papers made with different fibres from different plants. For the most part, I use kozo (or mulberry) paper. It can be quite expensive if you buy 100% handmade kozo paper. Handmade paper is better in that the fibres are randomly oriented, and so the paper will not deform when wet. Machine made papers have aligned fibres and thus tend to stretch more in one direction. However, it is possible to get good results even with machine-made kozo paper. It's strong, yet lightweight, and (in my opinion) beautiful.

[PrintsByMaggieg]

I love Japanese and Chinese papers too, I have used them for chine colle but have found that the fibres come off on some of them and I get a poor print. Any suggestions for chine colle papers?

[PrintsByMaggieg]

PS I like the BFK Rives too for intaglio.

[Former_Member]

I'm budget-conscious and don't pay $4+ for a sheet of paper. (Maybe someday...) and I have found a few good papers:

Stonehenge, 90 lb (250 gsm) is nice. Very smooth, just a bit of tooth.
Canson Edition, 90 lb (250 gsm) I like a bit more. It has a bit more tooth and character. Both of these are 100% cotton, have top and bottom deckle edges, and are cheap - about $1.60 a sheet when you buy 25+ at dickblick.com.

[Former_Member]

Arches Text Wove, 120gsm, is what I usually use. It is pretty cheap (between $4-5 a sheet) and holds up very nicely. It also only lightly feathers at the edges if you tear your sheets to size.

[minouette]

PrintsByMaggieg there are Japanese papers with fibre inclusions which can come off as you say. But, there are also very smooth papers without inclusions. I find most kozo or gampi papers work for chine colle. (I use http://www.thepaperplace.ca/ or http://www.japanesepaperplace.com/ which are great for me here in Toronto. They do ship elsewhere and import a very wide array of papers, primarily from Japan. They are used to working with printmakers and very knowledgeable).

[atelier28]

We use Somerset Velvet paper 300gms from St Cuthbert's Mill UK for intaglio. It has a lovely soft white color and can be used with watercolor. We've tried several other types of paper, but this is my favorite. Always panic in the studio if we're running out, because it's not easy to find.

I've also used my own handmade gampi and kozo papers. Gives an interesting effect, but the fibres do come off a bit on the sticky ink on the plate. I also recently tried Lokta paper from Nepal which worked well. I've found that the papers need to be mounted after printing though, otherwise the paper is all bobbly.

[ShopPicaDoodlePress]

The paper you choose to print on also depends on the kinds of prints you intend to do. Ex. Thinner paper works for relief prints, thicker for intaglio. If you are just starting out Stonehenge is a good cheaper paper to begin with. If you have some loose change Daniel Smith has a printmaking paper sampler for sale. (they are having a paper sale right now in general too.)

[panchromatica]

For collagraph and monoprints I prefer to use Somerset 300 soft white. It seems widely available in the UK at least. I have also used Fabriano and some hand made banana paper I acquired. I would like to experiment more, but shipping is expensive for small quantities. If anyone knows of a good store between London and Bristol where I can handle the paper I would appreciate the details.

[Former_Member]

I've only ever used used Arches 88 for high quality prints (screenprinting). The quality and brightness is incredible, although the paper itself isn't very forgiving as it marks rather easily.

Just can't get past that fabric-like feel though.