TIP: Playing with paste
Pat Kight
I've been noticing fabulous sheets of paste paper in my favorite local
paper emporium for some months -- really beautiful repeating patterns,
great colors, etc. Which got me wondering how you *make* paste paper. I
finally found instructions at the StampZia site, at:
http://www.stampzia.com/paper.htm#paper
... and wanted to try it out NOW (I'm not very good about delayed
gratification), but didn't have all the supplies on hand, in particular
the Ross Art Paste and acrylic paint specified on the site.
But I'd read elsewhere that classic paste paper has generally been made
with wheat paste ... and YES!! paste is, after all, wheat-based ... and
I have a big jar of that ... so - experiment time!
I spooned maybe a quarter cup of the YES! paste into a glass bowl,
grabbed one of my bottles of pigment re-inkers and squirted some of that
into the paste, then added a little water and stirred and stirred till I
had a nice, evenly colored bowl of smooth, dark glop, the consistency of
-- well, pudding. Spreadable but not stiff or runny.
I laid out a lot of newspaper to protect the table, and several sheets
of plain white paper -- I just grabbed what was handy, a
not-too-absorbent, cheap white art paper. Spooned the glop onto the
paper, used my trusty brayer to spread it around so the pages were
covered evenly, edge to edge, and fairly thickly, with the inky paste.
Then came the fun -- dragging sticks, combs, a scrap of corrugated
cardboard, my fingertips and other objects through the paste to make
squiggles and other designs. If I didn't like what I saw, I just ran the
brayer over it again to smooth it all out and started over. I even tried
impressing stamps into the paste and then dragging or swirling them to
make interesting patterns. The effect is rather fingerpaint-like, only
with more detail.
I wound up with four large sheets of *really* interesting paste paper.
Let them dry a few hours on the newsprint, then hung them up to finish
drying. They look terrific -- Can't wait to see how they work as
background papers. Once dry, the paste seems to stabilize the pigment
ink -- it doesn't smudge or smear, and the surface isn't tacky. Not
waterproof, but what is?
YES! paste and ink refills are too expensive to do this on a grand scale
-- I still plan to pick up some wheat paste and a few tubes of acrylic
paint -- but if you have it on hand, it's not a bad way to experiment
with the technique.
By the way, I keep a big old box of latex gloves in my craft area for
messy projects -- I recommend them for this!
--Pat Kight
kig...@peak.org
LCharvon
>all the supplies on hand,
Ahhh...Pat figured out my secret! You can so often substitute other materials
for what is 'called for'!
I use wallpaper paste/sizing to make my paste paper, and I sprinkle the wet
paste (after I swirl, and finger paint!) with ultra fine glitter!
Ahhhhh....don'tcha love it!
LC in Sunny So Cal
Lynniepoo2
I use a recipe for cooked flour and water paste and my ordinary artist acrylics
for making paste paper. Not instant gratification, since you have to let it sit
overnight in the fridge, or at least a few hours.... but plan ahead. I cook it
at night and play all morning. It is darned NEAR waterproof..... I tested my
papers by wetting them and it took some soaking and rubbing to mess up the
finish. It actually only messed up the paper that didn't contain the color,
like where you have drug something thru the paste so white paper shows thru. So
if you spill something on it, you have time to dry it off.
You can use craft acrylics too (cheap) but since they are thinner you may get a
thinner paste by the time you get the depth of color you want.
I don't dry mine on newspaper because it's PASTE LOL and they stick
together!!!!!! I hang mine up on a clothes line in the hallway (string and
thumb tacks) with wax paper behind them to protect the wall. They curl like
crazy but once glued down for book covers etc. they are fine, and you can iron
them, of course.
Lynn
Columbia, MO
http://members.aol.com/Lynniepoo2
"If we are what we eat, then I am either fast, cheap, or easy."
Pat Kight
Lynniepoo2 wrote:
>
> I use a recipe for cooked flour and water paste
... So, Lynn, any chance of getting you to post the recipe?
> I don't dry mine on newspaper because it's PASTE LOL and they stick
> together!!!!!!
I should clarify -- I just left mine on the newsprint till they'd sort
of -semi-dried, 'cause some of the paste was gloopy (don't you love
these technical terms?) enough that I feared it might drip on the floor.
Then I clothespinned them to the edge of a wire rack that hangs over my
craft table to finish drying.
> They curl like
> crazy but once glued down for book covers etc. they are fine, and you can iron
> them, of course.
I'll say one thing for the YES paste -- it doesn't curl the paper. Wish
I were rich enough to by this stuff by the 5-gallon drum!
BTW, after work last night I went looking for some more cheap paper to
experiment with, and found (in the school supplies section of my local
discount store) a pad of fingerpaint paper -- slightly glossy, bright
white and 50 sheets for under $5! Looks like just the thing.
--Pat Kight
kig...@peak.org
Lynniepoo2
In article <359A6991...@ucs.orst.edu>, Pat Kight <kig...@ucs.orst.edu>
writes:
>So, Lynn, any chance of getting you to post the recipe?
>
You bet, soon as I find it again.
>
>> I don't dry mine on newspaper because it's PASTE LOL and they stick
>> together!!!!!!
>
>I should clarify -- I just left mine on the newsprint till they'd sort
>of -semi-dried, 'cause some of the paste was gloopy (don't you love
>these technical terms?) enough that I feared it might drip on the floor.
>Then I clothespinned them to the edge of a wire rack that hangs over my
>craft table to finish drying.
>
I use cut-open trash bags on the floor to make mine so they can stay there
unless the cat gets interested. I don't keep newspapers around much.
>
>I'll say one thing for the YES paste -- it doesn't curl the paper. Wish
>I were rich enough to by this stuff by the 5-gallon drum!
>
>BTW, after work last night I went looking for some more cheap paper to
>experiment with, and found (in the school supplies section of my local
>discount store) a pad of fingerpaint paper -- slightly glossy, bright
>white and 50 sheets for under $5! Looks like just the thing.
>
>--Pat Kight
I did the same thing, bought a tablet of fingerpaint paper..... very thin,
though, do ya think? Yet considering what it's used for, it should be just
right...I STILL haven't made a batch of paste to test it..... I have used paper
from my sketch pads, ordinary printer paper, specialty paper (black paper with
a weave look to it, like nice business stationery but BLACK)...... hard to get
a color bright enough to suit me on the black, but still interesting!!!... they
all work fine. Once dry the paper is strengthened considerably, of course!
Will holler at y'all when I find my flour and water recipe YUM
Pat Kight
Lynniepoo2 wrote:
>
> I did the same thing, bought a tablet of fingerpaint paper..... very thin,
> though, do ya think?
Yes, but (in my experiment, at least), the paste adds a lot of weight
and thickness to the paper, so I think it will work. I wouldn't use it
for card-stock, but for layering and book end-papers, it ought to work.
> I have used paper
> from my sketch pads, ordinary printer paper, specialty paper (black paper with
> a weave look to it, like nice business stationery but BLACK)...... hard to get
> a color bright enough to suit me on the black, but still interesting!!!
Try adding some PearlEX to the paste -- I stirred a little of the
interference gold into part of my test patch, and the results were
wonderfully shimmery.
--Pat Kight
kig...@peak.org
CFerr54660
writes:
>I've been noticing fabulous sheets of paste paper in my favorite local
>paper emporium for some months -- really beautiful repeating patterns,
>great colors, etc. Which got me wondering how you *make* paste paper. I
>finally found instructions at the StampZia site, at:
>
>http://www.stampzia.com/paper.htm#paper
>
Hi All,
I have been playing with paste paper too. My first experiments I used
conrstarch paste recipe (thats what I happened to have on hand)... that I found
on the Liquitex website I think.Here is the recipe.
Materials:
cornstarch
water
measuring cup and teaspoon
one quart cooking pot and stirring spoon
fine strainer
one or more containers with lids large enough to
hold 2" to 3" paint brushes
2" or 3" wide house paint brushes
Liquitex Concentrated Acrylic Artist Color®
dark colors like Prism Violet, Pthalocyanine Blue,Pthalocyanine Green, Ivory
Black and Raspberry
offset printing paper or sturdy paper like Canson Mi-Teintes® Strathmore®
charcoal or drawing paper
pan of water in which to relax paper
sheet of Plexiglas® or Formica® 2" larger than the paper you're decorating
sponge
bucket of water in which to rinse sponge
graining combs
drying rack or lines
Steps:
1. Make a starch paste by blending 1/4 cup of cornstarch with 1/4 cup water.
Then add 1 cup water and heat on stove on medium high, while stirring, until
almost boiling. The consistency of the paste should resemble a thick custard.
2. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup water. Cover and let the paste
re-thicken as it cools.
3. Strain the cooled paste into separate containers.
4. Stir about 2 teaspoons pigment into each 1/2 cup of paste, depending upon
color intensity desired.
5. Relax your paper by wetting it briefly in a pan of water.
6. Place the paper on a sheet of Plexiglas® or Formica® and stroke from the
center outward with a sponge, to press out air bubbles or wrinkles and remove
excess water.
7. Use a 2" to 3" wide house painting brush to evenly coat the paper with a
solid color paste or stripes of different colored pastes.
8. Create scalloped, wavy or straight lines by drawing wood graining combs or
other tools across the paste-covered sheets. Overlap patterns to create a
3-dimensional effect.
9. Hang papers over racks or lines to dry. Iron on the wrong side to flatten.
BTW I used a variety of craft and artists acrylic that were on hand,I liked the
results.
Between the great things we cannot do and the little things we will not do the
danger is that we shall do nothing.
Carol
LCharvon
cook...try using wallpaper paste and sizer. Just mix 2T of the paste with 1 c
water, let sit 10 min, stir and go! The box of paste (available at Home Depot,
etc) is about $3!
Stephanie A. Hall
of old paste papers, and so I am inspired to try it out.
The Folger Shakespere Library in Washington DC currently has a small
exhibit of decorated papers from the 15th-19th centuries, including
several examples of paste paper. (in case anyone in the DC area reads
this, I recommend you go and see the exhibit. Marbled and guilded papers
are also included in the show with information on how they were made).
Some of the techniques for paste paper in the show included different
kinds of combing -- swirls, plaid effects, etc, and dragging a flat stick
through the paste in a swirling motion to make a curled ribbon effect.
Images of flowers were stamped into the paste. A sponge dipped in a
contrasting color was dabbed on paste to make a flower pattern. Finger
swirls just like fingerpainting.
Some of the papers were decorated by putting similar colors of paste on
two papers, then putting them together face-to-face and pulling them apart
again. The pulling gave the paste a characteristic texture.
Sometimes these "pulled" paste papers were used as is, sometimes they were
combed or otherwise decorated after they were pulled.
These old papers are really beautiful. I hope the above gives folks ideas
for trying out this art.
Stephanie
sh...@loc.gov
Opinions mine and only mine