In July I was gifted some paper.

A lot of paper.

I have no idea how many sheets, but certainly enough to keep me busy for a very long time.

It has kept me busy the past two months getting to know its qualities.

The paper came in two sizes and three different weights.

It is all American made, in the Adirondacks of Upstate New York , for commercial printing in the business sector — think laser and ink jet printed reports and booklets. The paper is 100 % acid free with an ultra smooth and bright white finish very similar to Bristol board. The weight of the paper (98 lb, 130 lb, 160 lb, and 200 lb or roughly 145 gsm, 192 gsm, 237 gsm, and 296 gsm) compensates for the fact that it is wood pulp and not a traditional artist grade paper of cotton fibers.

The 98 lb paper is 12 inches x 18 inches (30 cm x 45 cm) and warps somewhat, but not too much, when thinner washes of water based paint is applied. Thicker layers of acrylic paint prevent the warping. Despite the initial warping the paper takes the wet mediums quite nicely, allowing for washes with both sharp and feathery edges. The overall weight of the paper enables it to stand up to sanding and the addition of many layers of paint, thick and thin. However, I have do not really like wavy paintings. So next step, I will experiment further by mounting these paintings to MDF.

Here are pics of six paintings done on the smaller, lighter paper. Each painting began with acrylic paint of varying viscosity, sealed with acrylic matte medium and then moved on to additional layers of oil paint mixed with a variety of different mediums. Sanding occurred throughout the process.

In the images of the whole paintings you can see some of the warping which causes the paper to billow out from the studio wall to which it has been pinned. I am including a few close ups of each painting as well. The pictures were taken in indirect sunlight on a fairly bright day.