Making fine art paper specifically for drawing and painting requires quality materials to ensure that they are strong, archival, and beautiful. Fine art papers are made from a variety of fibres, including cotton, wood cellulose, and recycled materials, and their production uses resources like water and energy. In this article, we explore the materials and sources of energy involved in making fine art papers.
Cotton Paper
Cotton plants require vast amounts of water, and in some places around the world, have been known to drain rivers for farming. That said, the fibres used in cotton paper production are a generally a by-product of the textile industry and would most likely otherwise go to landfill.
The cotton linters used in cylinder mould-made paper are taken from cotton seeds following ginning; the process undertaken to extract longer cotton fibres, used for making textiles. What remains on the seed after this process is too short to be used for this purpose which is why they are classed as a pre-consumer waste.
Handmade cotton rag papers are made from post consumer fibres, such as old t-shirts. The pulp of Jackson’s Economy Indian Handmade Paper is dried slowly in the sun, and the water used to turn the rags into pulp is run off to irrigate the fields neighbouring the papermaking factory.
Wood Paper
Wood cellulose is another commonly used fibre in fine art paper. The source of the wood pulp varies between manufacturers and papers. Where available, certifications such as FSC or PEFC can provide information about the forestry standards associated with the wood used to make the paper. Fine art paper mills mainly use virgin pulp imported from West Europe because the quality of the fibres means that the resulting paper can withstand heavy treatment, such as being scrubbed or laden with watercolour washes. Trees for papermaking are grown specifically for purpose, in a way that ensures consistent supply. Countries such as Finland, Sweden, Canada and the US are all growing trees faster than they are felling them.
Recycled Paper
Recycled fibres can be used in paper production, although they have different properties from virgin fibres. It is not possible to only use recycled pulp for fine art use, because the re-pulping process necessary when recycling can shorten the fibres, reducing the strength of the end product. Additionally, when making recycled paper, there is very little certainty of the various chemicals that might be present in the pulp. Paper that has had a previous life serving non-fine art purposes is likely to contain lignins or bleaches which will prevent the resulting paper from being archival. When recycled fibres have been used to make drawing paper, some virgin pulp has to be added to compensate for the fibres that are no longer usable as well as to minimise the percentage of impurities. Additionally, recycled paper requires additional processes such as de-inking, degreasing and the removal of additives. Each of these comes with its own set of challenges, whether it’s the toxic sludge accumulated from de-inking or the undermining of the strength of the end product as a result of grease in the pulp. Ultimately, these problems can only be solved with solutions that require more energy and more chemicals.
Water
Water is a vital component in nearly all stages of papermaking, including pulping, sizing, cleaning and sheet formation. If water is to be returned to source it needs to be carefully filtered to remove any additives such as lignins and pigments, that may be harmful to local plant and river life. Wastewater treatment is categorised into primary, secondary, and tertiary treatments. Primary treatment uses sedimentation to remove suspended solids from wastewater, forming sludge. Secondary treat-ment removes organic matter using biological processes. Tertiary treatment provides final polishing to remove any other contaminants required before discharge into the receiving environment. Those three standard steps are altered or augmented depending on the nature of the facility and its processes.
In the UK, paper mills such as Two Rivers (Exmoor Water) and St Cuthberts (River Axe) are situated by a source of fresh flowing, naturally filtered water. Both mills state that the materials they use are chosen to ensure that the mill avoids harm to the surrounding environment.
Energy
The principal source of energy for paper mills is natural gas and electricity, although coal, oil, biomass, and solar energy are sometimes also used. Cylinder mould-made fine art paper is produced more slowly than many industrially manufactured papers. The process allows heavier weights of paper to be made and creates strong papers with surfaces suited to painting, drawing, and printmaking. Fine art paper mills favour this slower process because it allows heavier weights of paper to be made, and it also successfully ensures that the paper made is robust and has a surface suited to painting, drawing and printmaking.
Is Paper Vegan?
Most papers are sized – that means, a substance is added to pulp in production to control the absorbency of the paper, optimising its properties for drawing and painting. This is most commonly done with a chemical called alkyl ketene dimer. Only some papers are externally, or tub sized. This is an additional process that strengthens paper, and this is when gelatine (or sometimes a plant-based alternative) is used. Gelatine is made of collagen extracted from the skin, bones, and connective tissues of animals. In the case of fine art papers this gelatine sizing comes from cows, and is a by-product of the meat industry.
Even if only plant-based and synthetic additives are used to size paper, it doesn’t always mean that it can unequivocally be classified as vegan, as most papers come into contact with woollen felts during the sheet formation process. When synthetic felts are used instead, the surface texture of the paper is much more regular, more mechanical looking and generally considered less attractive. As well as this, there is the added concern of those felts gradually releasing micro-plastics as they inevitably wear with use.
Overall, the fibres, sizing, and energy and water required to craft fine art papers vary quite considerably between different makes. When considering a paper, look for specific information such as recycled fibre content, the source of wood pulp, forestry certifications, and details about manufacturing processes. Alongside any manufacturing information worth considering, the weight, surface, absorbency, and durability of a paper will help determine whether it is suitable for your work and chosen medium.
18 thoughts on “Materials, Water, and Energy: What Resources Are Used to Make Fine Art Paper?”
Interesting post, thanks 🙂
Thank you!
Thank you for this very interesting
article, I’m reassured that my fine art
paper is doing minimal damage to the
environment. It would be very interesting
to see a more detailed story on the
process at Two Rivers, from the point
where the water hits the wheel, through
paper production, to when the water
exits the mill again to continue
downstream. One day, I would love to
visit (from Australia) to see for myself,
but that seems a long way off. Thanks
again for the article. Alison
Thank you Alison. Did you see our ‘on location’ post from Two Rivers? If not here is the link – https://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/2021/01/11/on-location-at-the-two-rivers-paper-mill/
Best wishes
Lisa
I enjoyed very much enjoyed this .I like to
know as much detail as possible about the
materials I use to enable me to make an
informed choice.
Thank you.
Thank you Diane.
Best wishes
Lisa
A fascinating and useful piece. I hadn’t
considered the implications of papermaking
on the environment before. Thank you
I found this article extremely interesting. Glad to read that
we still have two mills making art papers with good ethics.
An interesting article which is quite
reassuring as to environmental effect.
Thanks Sue.
Great informative post. I’m only just
starting to paint more frequently and
wanted to find out about the impact on
the environment of watercolur paper.
Thanks
Thank you Tricia!
Thank you Lisa. What a super, well-written
article. These are very important
considerations which will become even more
so in the future. I was pleased recently to
receive my first St Cuthbert’s paper
conveniently on the eve of our level 4
lockdown down here in NZ. Now I’m even
more pleased to read it was made in such a
good way. I can’t wait to get my chores out
the way so I can try it!
That’s fantastic, thank you Katherine! I really hope you enjoy working with your St. Cuthbert’s paper. Good luck with the chores!!
Best wishes
Lisa
most interesting thank you
Thank you!
Thank you for this article. Can you say
whether fine art paper is biodegradable?
Dear Susanna,
This is an interesting question! The majority of fine art papers is made with natural materials – cotton, wood, sometimes linen, and if they are sized (Which most of them are) they may be synthetically sized or gelatin sized. I honestly don’t know if there is enough synthetic size in a sheet of paper (as well as fungicides) to prevent it from fully decomposing, and if you put the paper in compost, there would be a small amount of synthetic matter that would go to the earth which would be considered a contaminant. Fine art paper is made specifically for longevity – to be resistant to yellowing in the sun, to have the ability in the case of watercolour paper, to absorb liquid without developing mould, and so on…so in a way, it’s designed to minimise premature biodegrading. This is the reason why we can go to a gallery and see Turner’s watercolour sketches today – if he’d done them on newsprint paper they would probably have perished some time ago, as newsprint contains naturally occuring acids that would have broken down the fibres of the paper over the course of the past coupld of hundred years. So the short answer is I believe fine art paper to be biodegradable, but you’d need to give it a lot of warmth and moisture to help break it down. I’m interested to know your reason for asking the question in the first place and whether you want your paper to biodegrade, or not! As we receive many questions concerning the longevity of art materials, but as society becomes more ecologically aware, I wonder whether the art community will prefer to make work that will eventually return to the earth, than make work guaranteed to survive in pristine condition for as long as possible…
Many thanks
Lisa
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