Synthetic paper experimentation

JackEb

The Dragon Hunter
Staff member
Admin
We all know the hype about Yupo and Dru Blair paper, but I often wondered if there were alternative synthetic papers out there.
Depending on the retailer/manufacturer these can be called numerous things such as 'waterproof' 'permanent' or just plain 'synthetic'
I chanced upon several manufactures and decided to conduct an experiment. I tried to be as consistent as possible with the amount of paint and pressure of various 'erasers'
So here we go.
K.w.doggert have offices all over Australia and happily provide samples via their website, so if anyone in Oz wishes to try some it's there for the asking. Be prepared to part with some money as their sheets can go as large as 1200mm x 800mm and are sold by the ream of between 200-500 sheets depending on what product and weight you pick.
The 'Duracopy' is available in A4 & A3 sizes and was purchased last year from Hunters Business supplies, and is what I used when I did the Sturt Desert Pea Paint Pal for Nada and Ember for Squishy.

Let's get some pics happening
 
Firstly laid them all out and sprayed Etac EFX and Createx illustration no reduction of either

IMG_3638.JPG .

Notice how different the same paint looks on different paper
(Etac EFX carbon Black and Createx illustration Black)
 
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Ok, so that's all the pictures.
I noticed on the doggett 'c' grade that overspray seemed to catch badly (note how dirty it is down the centre by the wording)

I was surprised how well the Etac performed on the Yupo.
I had high hopes with the Pico after chatting with the rep, but disappointed by the actual results.

It proved to me that there is no single paper & paint combo that yields the results we seem to want with erasing.
If you don't use anything other than blades or fiberglass erasers then pretty much all will perform for that result.
Some papers are better with Etac and vice versa.

Sorry there's no eureka moment that answers our question as to what paper rules them all, but it was worth trying them out.

PS. Doggetts also do a "H" paper which is double sided clay coated. I was disappointed when I tried a paint pal on it, the clay appeared to melt into the paint giving it a cloudy /muddy appearance. Those samples went straight in the bin - no good for art work
 
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Very cool, thanks for that @JackEb

First question, how long was it between putting on the paint and the erasing? And did you do all the scalpels, then all the dowels or did you do the yupo, then the next (if you understand what I mean) Looking for the length of "cure" time on each paper before any erasing.
 
As soon as I'd sprayed the last one I then took to the first with all erasers.
One piece, all erasers. Next piece, all erasers .. repeat
Probably 15min from first spray to last scratch.
I started top left piece, then right side, down to next road.
 
OK so both those paints remain quite workable during that time. Cool. I know in winter my golden is workable for about 30 minutes, about 10 in summer.
 
Excellent, looks like the CI scratches cleaner on most of the papers, as for using a dowel they can be hard to get going!! And best used in the first few minutes of laying the paint down :)
 
Thank you JackEb! It's golden info for those interested in such painting surfaces.
I think, a lot of time and nerves are saved for others, and also their cash of course:)
Great review is done covering all main tools involved in the ABing process!:thumbsup:
Thanx for the effort!:)
 
I'll be spraying some paint tomorrow so I will lay some on the papers that didn't take the dowel well and see what happens, although I would suspect a piece of cotton wool would texture soft paint :)
 
Nice one Jackster. My problem so far using Yupo is that its just too delicate. Wicked wasn't to bad if left to dry, but I actually tried an E'tac sample just for comparison and even the next day it would come off just by touching it, or leave fingerprints. I used createx matte topcoat to fix it, which worked but then is not good for any erasing etc.

Did you experience that at all? I'm not convinced I have the right kind of yup o though. Its like a thin acetate with a white backing which delaminated when cut. All I could find in the UK though.

Not always easy to tell in a photo, but apart from the pico paper, is it fair to say that the Createx illustration black looks richer and deeper in colour?

To add to Jacks tests, with regards to longevity, I can say that the Duracopy holds up really well over time. Ember looks as good as ever :)
 
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