COTTON PAPER LOVE

I just love cotton paper. That texture, deckle edges, and if you add watercolour to it - it's the whole lot of perfection. Many of you have been asking me what paper do I use for these projects, so I thought I'll share with you a bit more of the process.

I found that Khadi 320 gsm weight paper works great with my printer as well as watercolour washes. 

The first thing I do is wet the whole page with a big round brush. I tend to only use pink or blue colours for these, as I think it they look best with the black ink. Once the chosen colour is a little bit diluted with water, I slowly start adding slow strokes on the page. You can improvise here as much as you like, but remember, the end result will look lighter once it dries.
I love adding a more saturated and bolder tone to the edges and then blend it with the rest of the background. 

Once the paper is dry, it's time to add lettering. I use Tombow Fudenosuke brush pen and then go over with Micron pen, to correct any flaws and make it darker. What I also found useful is to use a pencil to lightly mark the bleed areas, to make sure the work is centred. It can always be erased later on.
Sometimes if the text is long, I prefer printing it, as it looks more professional. All the print shops I went to didn't accept to print on this paper, as they were afraid it might jam their machines - which I understand. But luckily my Canon Pixma handled this weight. 

And finishing touches. I love everything that's gold and shiny, so adding gold leaf gives the work that special look. 

I use metallic adhesive which is applied with the brush to the corner of the page. Let it dry for a few seconds. Add as much leaf as you like and then use a bigger brush to take off any left overs. The end result is a shiny little accent, which gives the work a whole new look. 

I hope you enjoyed reading this. Even if you're not into lettering, I hope you enjoyed the photos. If you like what you see and and would like to order a Bespoke print made especially for you -  get in touch. 

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