Ask an Expert - Forum > Stonehenge soaking time
Hello Tom,
It’s always an interesting question when the soaking time required for printmaking, drawing & watercolor papers comes up.
There is no hard rule for a specific period of soaking time for Stonehenge – I will clarify. The important factor is that the paper whether it be a Stonehenge sheet or any other printmaking paper shouldn’t be soaking wet when you put it on the press.
Specific to your question Stonehenge is a paper that is internally sized as well as surface sized. When we created the paper in 1971 we wanted the paper to be suitable for a variety of mediums, obviously printmaking, but drawing as well: i.e. graphite, colored pencil, pastel and light wash watercolor. As a result of the surface sizing on the sheet you may want to soak the paper a bit longer than you would a sheet of Rives BFK, Somerset, Revere or Arches cover – all of which have no surface sizing at all.
Our advice if you have never used the Stonehenge for etching before is to experiment with several options for wetting the paper before printing. Soaking in a bath is one: misting the paper with an atomizer is another and lastly placing the sheet between damp/wet blotters.
If you are soaking the paper in a bath until it is really wet, when you remove the sheet place it between dry blotters to soak up excess water – again you don’t want to print on a very wet sheet. It is not necessary to soak Stonehenge for hours or overnight as you would a heavily sized watercolor paper like Arches W/C.
The best approach as to what will work best for you personally and your process is to test a few small pieces first before jumping into the edition.
Hope this helps – if you any additional questions do not hesitate to revert back to us.
Legion Paper
It’s always an interesting question when the soaking time required for printmaking, drawing & watercolor papers comes up.
There is no hard rule for a specific period of soaking time for Stonehenge – I will clarify. The important factor is that the paper whether it be a Stonehenge sheet or any other printmaking paper shouldn’t be soaking wet when you put it on the press.
Specific to your question Stonehenge is a paper that is internally sized as well as surface sized. When we created the paper in 1971 we wanted the paper to be suitable for a variety of mediums, obviously printmaking, but drawing as well: i.e. graphite, colored pencil, pastel and light wash watercolor. As a result of the surface sizing on the sheet you may want to soak the paper a bit longer than you would a sheet of Rives BFK, Somerset, Revere or Arches cover – all of which have no surface sizing at all.
Our advice if you have never used the Stonehenge for etching before is to experiment with several options for wetting the paper before printing. Soaking in a bath is one: misting the paper with an atomizer is another and lastly placing the sheet between damp/wet blotters.
If you are soaking the paper in a bath until it is really wet, when you remove the sheet place it between dry blotters to soak up excess water – again you don’t want to print on a very wet sheet. It is not necessary to soak Stonehenge for hours or overnight as you would a heavily sized watercolor paper like Arches W/C.
The best approach as to what will work best for you personally and your process is to test a few small pieces first before jumping into the edition.
Hope this helps – if you any additional questions do not hesitate to revert back to us.
Legion Paper
October 6, 2014 |
Legion Paper
Legion Paper
Hi Michael,
I feel like it is such an honour and pleasure to be able to talk to someone who so freely shares concise and succinct information. Not only that, but to talk to the creator of the paper I'm utilising is quite incredible :)
I thank you again for the length of your response to my questions. It's as I thought - that I should experiment with the paper before I go ahead with the edition prints. I've actually got a couple of different papers (stonehenge, hahnemuhle, Arches, Lana royal and others), so I'll definitely follow suit with experimenting before diving in. :) Also, on the topic of the paper not being too wet, I have seen the results of what happens when paper is soaked for too long, but not on my own accord. However, I am welcoming mistakes and happy accidents within this project and look forward to using the wonderful paper that you've made accessible to so many artists.
Should I run into any more questions re stonehenge/technical queries, I will contact you again.
I feel like it is such an honour and pleasure to be able to talk to someone who so freely shares concise and succinct information. Not only that, but to talk to the creator of the paper I'm utilising is quite incredible :)
I thank you again for the length of your response to my questions. It's as I thought - that I should experiment with the paper before I go ahead with the edition prints. I've actually got a couple of different papers (stonehenge, hahnemuhle, Arches, Lana royal and others), so I'll definitely follow suit with experimenting before diving in. :) Also, on the topic of the paper not being too wet, I have seen the results of what happens when paper is soaked for too long, but not on my own accord. However, I am welcoming mistakes and happy accidents within this project and look forward to using the wonderful paper that you've made accessible to so many artists.
Should I run into any more questions re stonehenge/technical queries, I will contact you again.
October 14, 2014 |
Tom
Tom
The paper is stonehenge white, 250gsm sheet.
I don't know if this matters as much, but I'll be using a hard ground with the etching as well, and the ink will be std vine black of graphic chemical company brand.
If you could help in any way that would be great.