Thinking about dyeing some paper itajime style http://www.paperconnection.com/itajime-closeouts and was wondering if anyone had any experience with this, or dyeing paper in general?
More specifically, I'm interested in paper choice and what dye's to use.I know kozo paper is used, but which sort, there's so many!(I can get sekishu shi but at £10 a sheet I'd be to scared to fold it, let alone dye it ) Maybe there are some alternatives?
I'm asking here before a more thorough web search coz I'd like an origami skewed perspective, not because I'm lazy!
Thanks in advance
Itajimeshi DIY
Re: Itajimeshi DIY
I think that's a great idea but I think you'll have to try the papers to see which ones work better. I've done a few experiments over the years with dying paper but nothing like this. I think any paper that colours well should work fine for this, not just kozo. Any water soluble dye capable of soaking the paper should work (no acrylics). Perhaps even cloth dyes would work.
I guess you can also have an interesting effect doing something akin to chromatography. If you paint the corners with something like a permanent marker and place the paper vertically (painted corner down) on a vessel with a solvent like acetone or an alcohol the colours should move with the solvent. It should not harm the paper once evaporated but depending on the colour you use you might get a gradient or even a mix of colours.
Good luck and have fun!
I guess you can also have an interesting effect doing something akin to chromatography. If you paint the corners with something like a permanent marker and place the paper vertically (painted corner down) on a vessel with a solvent like acetone or an alcohol the colours should move with the solvent. It should not harm the paper once evaporated but depending on the colour you use you might get a gradient or even a mix of colours.
Good luck and have fun!
In science as in origami, make sure your papers are good.