[Aquanet] Question about Arches paper

[donna at barnesroberts.com]

I treat my paper before I paint it with a mixture of ox gall liquid and water.  It takes care of this problem, which sometimes happens because the paint doesn't always wet the paper completely.  It is not about how you paint, it is about the way the paper is made, and there are small differences between batches all the time.  

I mix approximately a half capfull of ox gall liquid (made by Winsor Newton) in a cup of water, then use a large hake brush to paint it all over the paper.  Let the paper dry and the problem won't happen again.  (Do this before you paint on any paper you use and you will never see this problem again).  I always put an x in the corner of paper after it is treated because you can't really tell by looking if a piece of paper has been treated.  

This doesn't work as well AFTER you have painted - don't know why for sure.  Also, don't use too much ox gall liquid or you will not be able to make ANY hard edges, everything bleeds.  

Note - Don't use Arches, and have had this problem occasionally with most brands - that is why I just treat first, and don't wory about it any more.  

-----Original Message-----
From: "Dave Turk (dturk)" <dturk at cisco.com>
Sent: Friday, January 8, 2010 4:21pm
To: aquanet at aquanetart.com
Subject: [Aquanet] Question about Arches paper


Fellow Aquanetters -
 
I noticed on some of my paintings where I've laid in a dark wash that when these areas dry there are tiny white flecks visible. When I look under magnification I can see that it's the white of the paper. I've attached an example. The overall area shown in the attachment is under magnification and is about 0.5 inches in diameter to give you a sense of the size.  I don't think it is areas of the paper that didn't receive the wash because it was a soaking wet wash. The only thing I can think of is that as the paper dried some of the fibers shrunk and pulled away from each other, exposing unpainted paper. Wondering if anyone has any ideas what may be causing this. The paper is Arches 140lb cold press rough from a block. The paint for the wash in the attachment was a mix of Indanthrene Blue and Indigo (WN I believe).
 
Thanks,
Dave

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