The Paper Project – Experiment I

Welcome to the first experiment of The Paper Project! After punching and labeling over 650 small squares I wanted to work on an easy test – one that require no coloring! Hope you enjoy…

One droplet of Copic Various Ink Refill G29 Pine Tree Green was dropped at a distance of approximately 1.5 inches high then allowed to dry. I wanted to discover how each drop was absorbed into the paper. (You can click on the image to enlarge it.) The ink was then given 4 hours to dry before I tested for smudging. Each sample was rubbed with a dry finger to see if any of the ink would smear.

Each of the samples was assigned a random letter and the master list can be found on the Introduction page. Even though all of the samples are considered white, you can see that they vary in color including some reds and blues.

I noticed that A has the smallest diameter; it appeared the droplet exceeded its saturation level and the remaining ink pooled and dried on the top.

B, C, N and U have irregular circumferences; it appears the droplet spread across the surface before seeping into the paper.

D, E and (to a smaller degree) S are lighter in color; somehow the depth of the color is lost. In addition, these count for three out of four of the shimmering papers.

As far as I can tell, the edges on A, G, J, L, M and O indicate the droplet was absorbed and spread through the middle layer of the paper first.

On most of the samples, the ink shows through to the back side of the paper. However G, H, I, K, and L all seeped through onto the next sheet of paper and that N didn’t show up on the back side at all.

After letting the sample dry for several days I tested for smudges by rubbing my finger over the dried ink drop and found that A, B, C, I, L and M had smeared.

This was a difficult call because the results varied so much, but based on this test alone I would recommend the following papers to be desirable: D, E, F, G, H, J, K, O, P, Q, R, S, T, V, W and X.