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  Life   More Features  09 Feb 2019  Turning pulp to panel

Turning pulp to panel

THE ASIAN AGE. | NIVI SHRIVASTAVA
Published : Feb 10, 2019, 12:10 am IST
Updated : Feb 10, 2019, 12:10 am IST

We met Raghav Suneja, Director, Sona Papers, who gives us an insight into the world of artistic papers in India and abroad.

Some of the best art papers in the world come from Italy, and Magnani is one of the oldest mills of Europe that is known for producing artist grade papers since the year 1404.
 Some of the best art papers in the world come from Italy, and Magnani is one of the oldest mills of Europe that is known for producing artist grade papers since the year 1404.

Apart from the regular sheets, there is also a market for luxury papers that are made-to-order and cost anywhere between 5,000 to 10,000 rupees per sheet.

They say an artist is the combination of a scientist, philosopher, and innovator who knows how to choose the correct medium and accessories to create a masterpiece that lasts a lifetime. For any painter, the journey into the world of art begins with an introduction to the variety of papers and canvas available to create art. For an art student, the most important lesson begins with choosing the right variety of art paper that can be used for sketching, painting or creating sculptures.

But for a layman, the knowledge around art paper is mostly limited to the drawing books and paper pads available at  stationery shops; but did you know that apart from the regular sheets, there is also a market for luxury papers that are made-to-order and cost anywhere between INR 5,000 to 10,000 per sheet? For an artist, a paper is the foundation of his work so it becomes even more important to pick the right kind of paper as the medium to create the desired effect in the artwork. We met Raghav Suneja, Director, Sona Papers, who gives us an insight into the world of artistic papers in India and abroad.

Some of the best art papers in the world come from Italy, and Magnani is one of the oldest mills of Europe that is known for producing artist grade papers since the year 1404. The mill supplied to the royal families and master artists for over 600 years and is known for its high quality art paper. The luxury art paper from Magnani is now available in India in a versatile range of sizes and in unique squares and landscape forms. Speaking about the artistic papers, Raghav informs, “At Magnani, all the substrates are manufactured on cylinder mould machines using skills that are meet tradition and technology. The papers are ideal for all kinds of applications like watercolor, sketching, drawing, oil, acrylic, mix-media, and pastels. It is available in 100% cotton and 100% Alpha cellulose grade, commonly known as the pulp variety. After manufacturing, this paper is converted in pads, blocks and round blocks and rolls. In India, the prices start from INR 1000 to INR 4000 for a pack of 25 sheets.”

So how is an artistic paper different from a regular paper? To which, Raghav answers, “The artistic paper is different in two major ways— first the paper is Ph neutral and acid-free. In other words, an archival paper should be preferred. Second, the paper has to be pure which means no artificial bleaching. The artistic paper is cotton based, pulp based, rice-based or bamboo based. The cotton-based paper gives a shimmering effect, whereas with pulp base has a matt effect. Art papermaking is similar to general papermaking except, the paper is not bleached or subject to any chemical coating. This paper cannot be used to make sculptures.”

Apart from plain white paper, there are also coloured paper sheets now available in the market in shapes like round or portrait size like 15x40 cms for artists, who love to experiment with watercolor medium to create wall art. Speaking about the preferred art paper of artists, Raghav says, “Most artists like to buy cotton based papers, since it lasts longer and is more expensive than the pulp variety used by students. The best way to preserve an artwork is to invest premium quality fine papers with the archival quality, so that’s the most popular kind of paper that appeals to artists all over the world. It can be used as a multi-purpose medium for charcoal, ink, oil, crayons and watercolour without blotching. For creating coloured sheets, manufactures use natural coloured dye so that the colour does not wash up when gets in contact with water. Although, the most popular one still remains the white art paper as the colour tone is generally very responsive on a white surface. Some exclusive range of papers avai
lable is also known as double size papers, which is preferred by artists who want to take up a heavy artwork like mixing two or more colors over a strong surface. The double size paper can take up the weight easily and won’t split.”

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