Altered Silver

This was a simple little idea that could have big possibilities. I started by taping some wax paper to my drawing board, then taping a sheet of white tissue paper over that. (The wax paper acts as a barrier to prevent the tissue from adhering to the varnished board after getting wet.) Carefully (because tissue paper gets very fragile when wetted), I applied a layer of matte medium to the tissue paper to help give the paper some strength and make it slightly less absorbant.

When the medium was dry, I put several layers of watercolor washes over the paper. I used sienna and ochre hues with no particular design. Thanks to the initial layer of medium, I could work over this paper a lot more strenuously than tissue paper would typically permit.

When satisfied, I let the paper dry again.

I divided the tissue paper approximately into halves, then took one portion of the finished paper and adhered it into a waiting F&W spread with matte medium.

I really like the way this paper looks against the gessoed text pages. I marvel at how it was such a simple effect to achieve, and although I used a lot of water during the color washes, none of that water makes its way into the book spread, a definite plus.

Since I had painted a full sheet of tissue, I have plenty of remaining paper (already painted) to be used in other spreads or projects. Too, I now know it's very easy to make more!



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