Debate - Making two-colored paper by gluing or painting?

[Gerardo]

I'm starting to experiment with both painting paper and gluing papers together in order to make two-colored sheets. I'm only starting but gluing has seemed much easier, but that's just me .

Anyway, I wanted to know which of this two techniques do you prefer and why. Many of us could learn a lot from this discussion .

Don't leave without sharing your opinion .

[RK - The_Creator]

I tried some painting recently, and it was harder than I expected. I painted a thin white sheet of paper with a mixture of blue and white acrylics, only on one side.

These were the disadvantages I saw:

-It's difficult to get the same amount and mixture of color on on different spots of the paper.
-You'll need some equipment, I had the use a small brush and it took a long time to paint a 35cm square.
-I also needed more color than I wanted to use, and the color still didn't turn out the way I imagined.
-When a thin paper is painted on only one side you'll see the color shine trough on the other side.
-Also, if you try the put color into MC-solution the color will be much weaker.
-Paper might get wrinkles when drying

But painting is not only bad :

-Some paints can help stiffen soft paper.
-It doesn't add too much thickness to the paper.
-Any color combination is possible, painting by hand gives the paper a unique pattern.


My problem with gluing is that I have some bleeding papers, when I try to work wit MC it becomes a mess... I'm not sure which of the methodes I prefer


so, those were my thoughts, I think making a paper with the perfect color needs some practice.

[phillipcurl]

I prefer backing as TP is cheap and readily accessible. I do paint paper occasionally to get interesting patterns or colors. Both have their pros and cons, and in my opinion, the only way you can decide which one is better is just to experiment.

[Gerardo]

Thank you guys for your thoughts. You present some great points. What do the rest think? I'll add a poll just to see what are the stadistics of the question.

[OrigamiGeek]

I prefer using mc because it is cheaper and I have had better experience with it. once I panted paper with cheep acrylic paint, and when I folded it the paint stuck to its self and I had to rip the paint off of the paper.

[Swapnil Das]

I'll go for painting as it does not take too long to dry and like RK said, it helps stiffen soft paper. But yeah, it does take up some paint.

[Gerardo]

Thanks guys for your answers .

I'll go for painting as it does not take too long to dry and like RK said, it helps stiffen soft paper. But yeah, it does take up some paint.

Swapnil, what paint do you use?

[origami_8]

For me it totally depends on what I want to achieve. Choosing the right paper for a model is an important part of the folding process. Sometimes I already have the colour combination I want, other times I have to create it myself. Whether I'll do this by painting or gluing depends on several factors. One of these factors is the colourability of the paper. If I use thin bleeding tissue paper it wouldn't make much sense to paint it, whereas if I use thick elephant hide, I can achieve stunning colour patterns without adding much thickness. Another factor is if the paper has a special kind of embossment like for example the crumpled VOG. With painting most of these papers would loose their structure. I've found that crumpled VOG even keeps is structure when you make it wet, so if you glue tissue paper to its back with MC, it will actually get the structure too. That's very awesome. For other papers that loose their structure when getting wet, the best way to colour the back is to glue tissue paper to the back with spray glue. Every other treatment would destroy the structure. The downside of this method is that such a paper is really awkward to fold. It feels as if you would fold two papers at the same time, what you basically do.
Most of the time though I will stick with the colour combinations I already have.

[Gerardo]

Excellent information!

Thanks origami_8

I'm sorry, I don't understand what does it mean a bleeding paper. Can you please explain it to me?

[Foldtastic]

Excellent information!

Thanks origami_8

I'm sorry, I don't understand what does it mean a bleeding paper. Can you please explain it to me?

It means that the dye in the paper will run into other touching papers when wet.

[Origami_Sunshine]

I started with gluing / MC'ing papers together, but I often found them thick to fold (e.g. 2 sheets of unryu) -- is that normal?

I recently started painting papers more -- maybe just because I used to get disgruntled with all the bubbles I'd get while MC'ing . It's also easy to do on the spot in my room or anywhere else, vs. pulling out a plastic to MC. I like that I can paint nice colors that I might not be able to get with gluing tissue. I use acrylic paints and water them down a bit.

Still, I do like the natural look of gluing nice tissue papers together and I'll probably go back to that when I have more time in the summer.

[marckrsh]

Of course this is not a one-size-fits-all answer. Both paper approaches have their purpose. A third (related) one involves using chalk dust and a fixative (with appropriate protective gear). This is almost as extreme as using the pigment part of paint without the extra weight of its base (paint is comprised of these elements). The result is an incredible control of color and desired depth (you can control how opaque it is), without adding any discernible weight to your paper. This technique is practiced by Bernie Peyton.

Paining paper is a bit easier than the above technique, and it will afford you richness (in a different way) than simple MC'ing allows. The big disadvantage is that it does take some skill and practice (and experimenting) to get this right. I am just a beginner in this area myself, so I will not divulge too much. However, there have been excellent results achieved by people like Paul Frasco.

If my model can stand the thickness of sheets MCed together, than this is still a viable approach. There are countless excellent examples of success with this technique. Painting paper is still new to a lot of people, so until approaches are well laid out, I would not be so quick to dismiss it. - Marc

[origamifreak_1.6180339889]

its not so much that i prefer gluing/mc, i just haven't been able to successfully paint a sheet of paper. i tried it with kraft paper and acryllic paints, and the wetness of the paint caused the form of the paper to change. maybe an expert could shed some light on it for us inexperienced folk.
that chalk dust method that Marc described sounds like it would be ideal. i must look into it...

[Edg]

Paper is often "stretched" for watercolour painting. You dampen the paper and tape it down so it stays flat when painting. I keep meaning to try it, perhaps it will work with kraft?
I use paint more than gluing sheets together as its less hassle. I find painted paper paper is not as nice to fold but better for shaping. Been trying out some acrylic inks recently, very nice but did "break" a bit on some creases. I got a nice effect dry brushing some on to crumpled washi.
I usually find the corners come unstuck when I glue with mc, even after a second application. I'm thinking of sizing the paper with mc then using spray adhesive... has anyone tried this or does the spray adhesive act as a sizing agent?

[Gerardo]

WOW... this is becoming a way awesome debate! Thank you guys for sharing .

I wish to learn more about you guys do to make two-colored paper. Who hasn't shared their ideas ?

And don't forget to answer Edg's question.

PS: Can you explain what "sizing" means?