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Watercolour Paper: Thick Rag Sheets Sized with Gelatine
Watercolour paper is heavy rag paper sized with gelatine, so wet paint sits on the surface instead of soaking in. James Whatman made a paper for watercolours this way by the 1780s. The sizing here follows Andrew Ure (1839): dry hand-made sheets dipped in size boiled from skin, with a little alum, then pressed and dried slowly.
Intermediate
About a week with drying
Instructions
1
1
Make thick rag sheets
Make thick rag sheets
Form, press and dry rag sheets as in the linen-rag paper blueprint, but take up more stuff on the mould for a thicker sheet. Leave them unsized.
2
2
Make the size
Make the size
Melt hide glue in water to a thin size and stir in a little alum. Ure's size was skin boiled to a jelly, which is what hide glue is. Keep it warm, not boiling.
Materials for this step:
Hide Glue100 g
Alum (Potassium Alum)10 g
Water2 litersTools needed:
Iron Kettle
Thermometer3
3
Dip the sheets
Dip the sheets
Pour the size into a vat. Spread a few dry sheets out in it at a time so every part is wetted evenly; Ure calls this a nice operation.
Materials for this step:
Paper20 sheetsTools needed:
Vat4
4
Press, part and dry slowly
Press, part and dry slowly
Press out the spare size between felts, part the sheets, press again and hang them to dry. Dry them slowly: Ure allowed three days.
Tools needed:
Wool Felt Sheet
Paper Press (Book-Style)
Drying Line5
5
Press and pick
Press and pick
Press the dry sheets hard and pick out any knots with a small knife. For a smooth (hot-pressed) sheet, press each between smooth pasteboards with a heated iron plate in the pile, as Ure describes.
Tools needed:
Paper Press (Book-Style)
Craft Knife
Pasteboard
Iron Plate6
6
Limits
Limits
The sizing is Ure's; the size strength (100 g glue and 10 g alum in 2 litres) is ours. Wikipedia lists watercolour paper as hot-pressed (smooth), cold-pressed (textured) or rough, in 90, 140 or 300 lb weights.
Materials
4- 100 gPlaceholder
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- 2 litersPlaceholder
- 20 sheetsPlaceholder
Tools Required
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