Paper vs Paper

I usually print out my dummies on fairly good presentation paper. This dummy was a bit different and since the double page spreads were so large I wanted larger paper to print them on. I have good photo paper, but don't want to use that for a dummy. That kind of paper is great and best reserved for a couple of finishes to show to a publisher. But I needed to use larger paper to get the whole spread on one sheet.

So I experimented with papers I had on hand and used a couple of types for printing the dummy. I had a ton of older rag based drawing paper and tried one color copy on that. WOW!

© Ginger Nielson 2009

illustration printed on older drawing paper with a lot of texture

The texture that resulted was something I absolutely loved. Compared to the expensive premium paper that I usually use for a dummy, this paper has such character. I have noticed in some of my favorite picture books that the paper has a wonderful "tooth" to it. This old drawing paper really is "toothy." But it is far to flimsy to use for a dummy.

© Ginger Nielson 2009

illustration printed on good quality matte photo paper

I don't know if it will show up on the blog, but here is the other of the two photos. The presentation paper from Epson is top of the line, but the colors and lines blend a bit too much. The rag paper is not great quality but I loved what it did with the color and the texture. With this print a lot of the texture that I had painted did not show up well. So my search continues.

Somewhere in between these two I will hopefully find the perfect paper for this dummy. And I will find the perfect paper for the finished pieces that I will want to show.