September 2023
The Canson Project
Electro-mechanical paintings on vintage paper
Ok so a few months back I scored some drawing paper in a thrift store ("La petite puce"). It looked old from the design on the sleeve :
(I showed the sleeve to the lady at the Canson Museum in Annonay:
she said they stopped using this logo in 1983,
and the sleeve looked much older than that
I tried to print upon it using my fancy-pants inkjet printer (Epson WF-6590, got it second hand for €35).
The result was very interesting : the paper didn't absorb the ink very quickly ; the prints had a wet sheen when they came out and were very susceptible to smearing. As the ink dried / permeated the paper, it diffused somewhat, creating a very interesting blur.
My urbex / HDR shots, thus rendered, look even more like paintings.
Because that's what they are now.
Ink applied onto drawing paper.
Admittedly with an electro-mechanical device rhather than a brush or pen, but one has to live with one's times.
They look good framed. The 4:3 format isn't the same ratio as A4: the mask (passe-partout) thus leaves two strips on either side, where I can sign, title and date the work, as well as indicate a mention of the paper: "Canson Lavis Technique, approx 1980".
