Study of Ink Holdout of Tub-sized Handmade Paper
摘要
The main purpose of this study was to tub-size unsized handmade paper to gain a sufficient sizing degree to prevent feathering and show-through (penetration of ink to the back of the sheet) of the applied ink or paint colorants, while still presenting good hold-out properties for soot-ink and colorants used in Chinese painting. For hold-out comparisons, we used renowned Tsanyichien (literally, cicada wing sheet) manufactured in mainland China as a reference. Relative color strengths of paint strokes on the sheets were compared. Among base sheets made of various raw materials, those made of cotton fiber showed better relative color strengths when compared to base sheets containing gampi (Wikstroemia indica), mitsumata (Edgeworthia papyrifera) or paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) bast fibers. Internal addition of various fillers led to sized sheets with reduced relative color strengths. AKD (alkyl ketene dimer) emulsions offered good sizing, but rendered very poor ink hold-out. Although sheets sized with animal glue showed enhanced relative color strengths of several Chinese painting colorants, their soot-ink hold-out remained poor. Sizing degree offered by animal glue was insufficient as well, showing a notable degree of feathering. Sheets sized with styrene copolymers showed better ink hold-out for cambogia and soot-ink, but less than ideal hold-out for indigo and carmine.