11 October 2005

Trying Masa Dosa


To date I've printed all my woodcuts on western paper, mostly Rives. For my Baren exchange print I'm using an inexpensive but handmade Japanese paper called Masa Dosa that I bought at McClain's. The description in the McClain's catalog states that this paper is a "crisp, bright white paper that accepts ink very well... sized for use with water-based inks, it is thick and tough enough to take multiple block printing well."

So far I've found that this paper behaves quite differently than the Rives. It's softer, almost fluffy. It has a more fabric-like quality and is very thirsty. It soaks up lots of pigment. It also feels less "wet" when it's dampened. I like it.

Speaking of trying out different papers, printmaker Maria Arango has a page on her web site that reports on the behavior of dozens of papers she's tried.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Annie,
I have used this paper and found it very soft, I will be interested to hear what you think of it.
Barbara