Earlier this year I developed a workshop on decorative paper for the gallery. I decided to provide the participants several techniques and papers to allow them a good variety of end result papers.
Work Surface
You need an impermeable surface onto which you will place your color. For the class I created pieces of heavy chipboard covered with freezer paper. I have used an acrylic plate. I recently acquired a piece of glass which I will us from now on. It is about 16x16 inches which allow me to make larger prints.
Color
I used liquid acrylic ink but any liquid color would work. My sister and I have used watercolor in the past. A pipette or eye dropper is used to drop ink onto your work surface. Consider the opaqueness of the color which will affect your end result.
Watercolor Paper
The ink on watercolor paper is the first one my sister taught me years ago. You lay color onto a non permeable surface then lay your watercolor onto it to produce a monotype print. The ways to enhance this technique is to add coarse salt which repels the color and creates these star type patterns in the color. The other is to cover the print with plastic wrap and allow it to dry. It creates more subtle patterns in the color.
Photo Paper
I done a lot of this type of decorative paper for the cards at the gallery. This is again a monotype print which is done with glossy photo paper. I use the 4x6 sheets which are often provided for free with printers. Each sheet is unique.
Card Stock
This sample was created with wax as the resist. The easiest way to apply wax to paper is with wax crayons. I have collected several white crayons which will allow you to have white space on your paper once color is applies. My sister created several clear paraffin wax crayons. Of course colored crayons will create a different look and the color options are endless. Consider the color combo when choosing your ink color. The sample above used a silver metallic crayon. It is again a monotype print with color on your work surface.
Sylvia - I love these decorative papers. The first one looks like a bunch of flowers - I never would have guessed that salt created this effect! The last one reminds me of coloring eggs at Easter - we used crayons to make wax-resistant patterns on the eggs!
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