Cees Elzinga

About print paper

Woodblock prints

About print paper

I use different kinds of paper and that is difficult to see from the pictures in this website: the impact of the paper used can only be fully appreciated when seeing the prints themselves.

Some kinds of paper, like Fabriano or Simili Japon are produced by a an industrial paper mill from wood pulp whereas others, like Saa or Gampi are hand made, mostly in the far east,  from the fibers of plants or bark. Hand made sheets from plant or bark fiber are not homogeneous: the fibers are irregular in color, thickness and length and the sheets themselves are not perfectly sized. Each sheet is different: it has its own irregular texture, small discolorations, minute contaminations and thicker and thinner spots. Therefore, printing on hand made paper results in prints that are not exactly alike and may show the “irregularities” that result from the components and the production process; this cannot be avoided. Therefore, different prints from the same edition may not be exactly equal.