[Scriptoris] Workable matte fixative ref. sheet

[Elaine Crittenden]

As a long-time "mundane" calligrapher (30 years), I find Nuala's suggestion
about using fixatives excellent. As she said, you need a workable fixative.
I would add the word "matte" so there will be no shine when you go back into
the art work for your ink or paint areaa. Look for "workable, matte
fixative."

A bit of history: from what I understand, originally, the workable matte
fixative was developed so that pastel artists could go back into previously
chalked areas and work on them some more, in addition to not having the
chalk (pastel) dust off and change the artwork.

For us: You might want to start a ring binder notebook with paper you know
you will use and just go the go for a single time, buying one each of the
different sprays...or your could have a "party" in which you and some
friends each buy a different "workable matte fixative" to compare what the
fixative looks like on areas of the paper when it is sprayed and not
sprayed, each person getting to "borrow" the others' spray cans for the
different test strips.

Mask off sections of a sheet of paper and spray each labelled section with
the various sprays of fixative so you will know which discolors the paper,
how it looks afterward, which dries faster, and which remain "tacky"
(sticky) longer.

The following "score sheet" will require a lot of masking and unmasking and
masking of other areas, but, in the end, your reference binder's sheet will
prove invaluable for future referenced work.

I would leave the top fourth covered and untouched, but spray the rest of
each vertical section with a different spray.

A further refinement might be to make of each sprayed strip into first,
second, and third areas. Each area would be masked off from the others, as
the steps are taken.

Leave the top third of each strip to show what that particular spray does to
the appearance of the paper. The next third down that strip could have
examples of various inks and how they behave on the sprayed strip. The last
third of the sprayed strip could be a testing ground for different gouaches
and golds.

If you were testing, say three brands of workable matte fixative, your test
sheet would have three vertical sections divided into four horizontal ones,
for a total of 12 sections.

I have three sets of large! ringbinders I have set up throughout the years
of various tests  of products, tool effects, paper samples, media effects
and the interactions of many things to many things. You can, too....   ;-)

Lete

----------
>From: lizdenpeters at juno.com
>To: scriptoris at ansteorra.org
>Subject: Re: [Scriptoris] A question of paper
>Date: Tue THSep 6,2005,6:57 PM
>

> Also, be sure to test the ink(s) you hope to use on the paper.  Some
> brands/types will bleed and some will not -- it varies from different
> inks to different papers.  A little pre-testing will save you a world of
> grief.   Also, if you have some issues with bleeding inks, try some
> workable fixative to eliminate/minimize the problem.  Fixatives have been
> used in drafting and the arts for many years to stabilize paper for
> charcoal, pastels and inks.  Be sure that you purchase a "workable"
> fixative as this means that you can continue to work on the surface after
> using the product to stabilize the surface.  Permanent fixative seals the
> surface like a varnish and you cannot add anything to the work after
> using it.
>
> I have used Bristol for scrolls but while it takes the paint well, the
> application for inks can be problematic.  That is why I typically use
> workable fixative on any original scrolls I do on Bristol.
>
> Good luck and let me know how it turns out!  Will you post your work to a
> site on the web where we can drool over it?
>
> YIS,
>
> Liz or Lady Fionnghuala the Fair or "Nuala" or my evil twin, Cedric
> "It seems the less a statesman amounts to, the more he loves the flag."
>                       ~~~~~Kin Hubbard~~~~~~