Painting papers...

in this manner is something that keeps me from being too controlled, since it is next to impossible to predict the outcome, although I'm invariably pleased with the results.

The start

I start by laying out a long sheet of palette (butcher) paper, covered by a nearly equal sheet of mulberry paper (available in rolls), with Opal the cat as paper weight.

Sprayed with water

Step 2 is to remove the cat and spray the mulberry paper thoroughly with water.

Adding paint

Step 3 - spray the cat with water to remove her from the paper.  Then mix a quantity of paint (in this case mostly light, because I'm running low on pale paper) in complementary shades and, using your palette knives, run them each gently (the mulberry paper is not very strong) over the sheet.  Keep cat at bay with harsh words, additional water sprays and frequent 'NO's'.

The very wet result

 When your sheet is 'covered' (next to an impossibility, and not required), spray more water to allow the paint to mingle.  At this stage, one can add sparkles, light bits of finely crushed leaves, threads, and so on, to add visual interest.  In the photo above, the brownish bits are areas where bubbles have formed, paint has run off, and the palette paper from below is showing through.  Allow paper to dry at least overnight.

Paper #1 dried overnight

 The next morning, the first paper is very pale in tones of off-white, and will be lovely both in paintings and in bonded hand-painted paper projects.  I did notice a few brush strokes (off-camera) due to a cat tail.

Paper #2 dried overnight

 I'm really liking this second, darker toned paper.  I intentionally used a palette paper that was covered with previous speckles of paint (I use my palette papers over and over to get interesting possibilities for palette transfers).  When I did the second spray with water I sprayed directly onto the palette paper that held the paint, dripping the results onto the mulberry paper, thus transferring some of the original paint along with the fresh.  Another new technique has been developed to push further...how fun.

You can see another finish of painted papers here if you're needing a colour fix, too!

When I developed this method of painting papers some years ago, I was so very chuffed with myself - until I found a piece of paper in my stash that had obviously been created the same way.  There is definitely nothing new under the sun, especially when it pertains to colour and art!