Using a squirt bottle

The squirt bottle is an invaluable tool.  I use any size commercial bottle filled with tap water and spray a fine mist of water over the surface of the wet in-progress painting during the course of the creative process.  In the photo above, I am squirting water in the area where I just removed the metal ruler.  This process forces any stray bits of wet pulp back into the desired area and ensures a straighter line of newly applied pulp onto the work surface.  Sometimes I mix a little acid free glue and/or paper sizing in with the water.  This addition allows the new pulp to bond more completely with the drier pulp. 

Handmade Paper Paintings: Process and Applications. Wet pulp that has been barricaded.

Photograph of wet pulp that was barricaded with the metal ruler once the ruler is removed.  To get rid of excess moisture, I tilt the screen the painting is resting on at an angle and allow the water to drain off the screen.  Applying a dry, absorbent cloth to the edge of the wet pulp (where the wet pulp rests against the drier pulp) and allowing the water to absorb into the cloth is another option to hurry drying.  The pulp cannot be re-worked until it is dry or nearly dry.

Handmade Paper Paintings: Process and Applications. Controlling the Uncontrollable: Part Two

A closer view of the metal ruler being used as a barricade for controlling where the wet pulp will land.  Notice the container of wet pulp with the turkey baster in it.  I lift the pulp out of the container using the baster, then , I quirt the pulp onto the designated area of the in-progress painting on the metal side of the ruler.  

Handmade Paper Paintings: Process and Applications. Controlling the Uncontrollable

Wet pulp is difficult to control to say the least!  Unlike paint that can be applied with a brush, pulp dispersed in water is slippery and shapeless.  In fact, the ratio of water to pulp in the wet stage is approximately 90/10.  To help control where the pulp lands on the surface of the in-progress painting, I use a metal ruler as a barricade of sorts.  I hold the ruler in place with one hand, and, using a turkey baster to gather the pulp with, I squeeze the pulp filled baster onto the section of the painting in which I want to direct the pulp.  

Handmade Paper paintings: Process and Applications. Working from an outline part II

In yesterday’s post I wrote about using an outline to guide me of where to place the colored pulp.  As I cannot work from an easel as the wet pulp would slide off the surface, instead, I work on a flat surface.  As I mentioned yesterday, I draw onto the surface of  in-progress paintings with different colored grease crayons in order to guide me as I continue to work.  I then draw the image from the photo onto the in-progress painting, which I have drawn a complimentary grid on, just at a larger scale (i.e, an inch on the photo might represent a foot on the painting surface).  This photo provides a clearer picture of a work in progress using the outline method.  The shiny areas are wet with newly laid pulp.  Once dry, I can pin the still unfinished painting to a wall surface and draw another grid!

handmade Paper Painting Process and Applications: Working from an outline

I draw onto the surface of  in-progress paintings with different colored grease crayons in order to guide me as I continue to work.  Let me explain.  My paintings originate from my own photos.  I print out a photo, and, as I learned in drawing 101, I grid the photo into sections using different colored grease crayons.  I then draw the image from the photo onto the in-progress painting.  As I need to work on a flat surface, and am unable to step away from the painting as I would an oil painting, I rely on the crayon lay-out to tell me where to place different colored pulps. 

Handmade paper paintings: Processes and Applications. Collecting Water

A pail is placed at one end of the vacuum table to collect excess water that drains from a painting during the painting process.  This end of the vacuum table has a drilled hole in it in order to collect the water.  The table is slightly angled on the saw horses so that the water can drain and collect (there is a plank of board 48 inches x 2 inches propped up over the back saw horse in order to angle the table).

Handmade Paper Painting Process and Applications

During the painting process, the pulp painting rests on a sheet of egg crating.  This allows the water to drip from the painting onto the vacuum table, where it will eventually exit the table via the hole in the bottom of the table.  Small containers of pigmented pulp are available for painting, much like a traditional palette.  Two recent paintings, both 15 x 15 inch seascapes, are shown here.