Washi (Paper) Testing

I think one of the hardest things for a mokuhanga artist is finding the right paper.  Especially Japanese paper.  There are so many different weights, sizes, paper makers.  And we all like different characteristics in a paper.  I personally don't like a white white paper and prefer more natural color.  I also like a thicker paper.

The opportunity to test different papers while at MI-Lab was something we all wanted to do.  We didn't realize how difficult it would be to get at Kawaguchi-ko.  If there were suppliers there, or even any art suppliers there, we never found them.  Everything came from either Tokyo or somewhere else.  And that all takes time.  Given that knowledge before hand I know we would have purchased paper in Tokyo to take with us to Kawaguchi-ko.

As someone used to the western "fast-food-get-it-now" culture it was hard to wait. Frustrating!  But we finally got paper from different sources and were able to test them.

Below are 4 prints all on different papers - 3 handmade Japanese and one machine made Korean.
  You can see how they each reacted differently to the same process.  The bottom right is "my" usual paper, Kihada.  It took the brown very deeply but not the blue or red.  The one above it is a Korean machine made paper that is absolutely dead.  There is no texture and the colors all are very flat.  The other two are from Kochi. The top one is a natural, almost brown paper and the bottom one is white.  Quite a difference!

These were just 4 of the papers.  We tested many more and most of us brought several of our favorites home to play with some more. 

4 comments:

Michèle Ouellet said...

Hi Linda,

I am surprised that Awagami, for instance, was not involved? At the open house last April, they were around, discussing papers and handing out samples...

Annie B said...

Beautiful image.

Andrew Stone said...

Hard to say as these photo's aren't very well lit...even the Korean one on my monitor still looks pretty good.

The hard part is always knowing how much is the size...and how much is the fiber/paper itself.....

I agree with Annie; this will be a lovely print; the drawing and values are very dramatic......pretty suitable for a dormant volcano.......

Linda said...

Andrew - I agree with you about sizing and fiber/paper content. And they are not always consistent from one batch to another. I also appreciate your comments on the print itself. When it was my view every day and changed constantly it made it difficult to simplify the design and still convey its awesomeness!

Annie - thank you!

Michele - Awagami provided some small samples but not enough to make any assessment. They were not personally present to talk to.