tapestry paper? Charcol??

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Has anyone worked with either of these papers. I was told they were fun to experiment with, but they are sooo pricey. I just wanted some thoughts on it before I got any. Are they hard to work with? Is there any special development times or ratios? Also I heard Luminos used to offer something called the printers guild. where they would send you five sheets of a number of thier different papers to "play" with. For a small price. Has anyone ever heard of this or is it just wishful thinking? Thanks

-- martha goldsmith (oscar@unidial.com), October 23, 1999

Answers

I used to be a member of the Luminos Guild but I either forgot to pay my dues or it was discontinued. Anyway, Charcoal R is a great paper. It reminds one of a watercolor paper and tones beautifully. If I recall correctly, it comes in only one grade and is a little slower than the papers I normally use but presents no special printing problems. The only problem I have with it is that it is not available locally and I would have to order it and, therefore, never have any on hand when I need it. I keep thinking, "one of these days. . ."

-- Joe Miller (jmmiller@poka.com), October 24, 1999.

Actually, Luminos Tapestry X and Charcoal R are the same paper. They simply coat the emulsion on one side or the other, depending on which one you buy, Tapestry being the rougher side. I prefer the Charcoal R as it's surface resembles that of a nice watercolor paper. The Tapestry X side of the paper has little indentations, which sort of looks like morse code, that tend to become more pronounced when toned. It's o.k. for large landscapes and the like but you can imagine what it would do to portraits! Both emulsions are available in grade 2 1/2 only, which I'd like to see change in the future. As far as the printmaker's guild is concerned, I joined a few moths ago for about thirty bucks. They send you a sampler box which wasn't bad. It gave me a chance to try some of their other papers without having to commit to full boxes. The one I was most impressed with was their RCR Art. A medium weight RC paper with a mildly textured surface similar to that of the Charcoal R's. Really nice stuff but a bit too pricy for RC, as far as I'm concerned. The only thing I was disappointed with was that the product "discounts" offered to members of the guild were virtually non existent. The prices are better at B&H, if you can believe it.

-- Walter Massa (WFMassa@webtv.net), October 28, 1999.

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