Super Glossary

Paper

Life Style / Painting / Paper: A substance produced from wood-pulp, rags or other material with fibres. It is thought that the art of making paper started in China with Tsai-lun about CE 105. It is likely that the invention was carried from the Far East by the Turks during the Dark Ages. It first appears in Europe in Spain, and Italy during the 12th century. The varying methods used by artists have called for a large number of different papers. Broadly they can be divided into two categories: cartridge and rag. The former is made from wood-pulp and is generally used for schools, or work in a draughtsman's office. Rag papers are produced from good-quality cotton or linen rags and are finished to three surfaces. 'Hot pressed', with a smooth slightly shiny surface; 'Not' with a matt and 'Rough' with a quite coarse-grained, rough appearance. The papers beside being white can have tints ranging from black right across the palette to pale creams and greys. Pastel-workers often choose coloured papers. There are also heavy textured papers such as Cox, de Wint, Ingres, Turner and specialized makes including Montgolfier, Carson and Hodgkinson. Papers for printing on can be made from mulberry, and with some of the Eastern types, grasses and reeds are used. Papers will take all media except oils and alkyds without further treatment, for the two latter some form of isolation and priming should be used. Hans Holbein was a painter who used treated paper for preliminary oil-sketches.
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