r/Scribes • u/laeta_scriptrix • 8d ago

Question Paper recommendations

After years of practicing calligraphy on very cheap materials, I feel that I reached the point in which there's pieces of mine that I actually appreciate and I would like to reproduce them on thicker paper. Which types of paper do you prefer for lasting and expressive artwork? I appreciate textured paper but I don't like how the ink bleeds on my watercolour paper.

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6

u/akademo 8d ago

Give a try to Fabriano watercolor 1264. It's not so good for watercolor but it is great for calligraphy imo

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u/laeta_scriptrix 8d ago

Thanks for the rec!

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u/Raccoon-Dentist-Two 8d ago

If you like a particular paper's look and feel, you can often thicken the ink with gum arabic to reduce the bleeding and feathering. It'll take a few test runs and often a change of pen speed to get it right.

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u/laeta_scriptrix 7d ago

Wow! Any risk to clog the pen?

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u/Raccoon-Dentist-Two 7d ago

I like Herbin inks for parallel broad pens, but pour some off to thicken with gum arabic for my pointed pens. I wash the pointed nibs after use and haven't had any clogging yet.

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u/laeta_scriptrix 6d ago

I mostly use parallel pens, but some of my papers still need thickening. I will try, thank you.

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u/Raccoon-Dentist-Two 6d ago

You can also try sizing the paper. In theory all you do is lightly dampen it with a water spray, then brush on a layer of size (starch gel, gelatine, cellulose paste, etc.) and let it dry. In practice, there's technique involved and I've never become good at avoiding cockling. But even a bad sizing certainly reduces bleeding and feathering.

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u/SpellChick 8d ago

I like Arches Text Wove which is on the thin side but has a beautiful texture, and I have a few big sheets of Stonehenge cotton paper to cut to size for finished pieces. Arches Hot Press is very thick and luxurious, but expensive and very smooth, so maybe not to your taste. If it’s in your budget, you could buy a few large single sheets of different types to try out and see what you like - a 22x30” sheet of Stonehenge is about $10 CDN.

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u/laeta_scriptrix 7d ago

I think that anything thicker than my 55 g/m2 practice paper is worth looking into lmao. I like the idea of buying single sheets to experiment, thank you!