Scholars Series I

The Scholars Series I Suminagashi prints are a step into the realm of exquisite handmade paper, utilizing a beautiful handmade single-ply 27 gsm weight Chinese Xuan Yu-Ban (Jade-Plaque) paper. This is one of my absolute favorite types of paper to work with, becoming a staple for my Scholars Series prints, and the one that really started me down the road of working with thin, fine handmade papers for Suminagashi. This paper has a beautiful texture and feel, with almost instantaneous wetting and absorbing of ink and water. It holds ink very well with minimal bleeding, and offers beautiful shades of ink tones for a slightly muted palate. This type of paper is often used for traditional ink painting and calligraphy, and is very high grade professional level paper, available anywhere from small to massive sheets.

This paper however is also a challenge for Suminagashi, as it will tear extremely easily under its own weight after lifting it completely saturated from a water bath. This requires absolutely flawless lifting technique by hand with small sheets, and the use of more specialized supported lifting for larger sheets. Because of the delicacy of this paper, it is often backed with a stronger but equal weight paper (such as Wenzhou Pi paper), which not only strengthens and reinforces the paper, but brightens up the ink colors even more. When using this paper, I also follow traditional Chinese wet mounting techniques for backing, resulting in a more sturdy and beautifully toned final print. (Note: the actual paper color is a crisp, bright white tone, which the pictures do not capture well.)