Rice Paper Uses in Western Art

Rice paper lend itself to tearing, moving, layering and breaking, allowing free forms to emerge in collage. The paper is brushed over with glue or water. It may be molded or twisted into the shapes dictated by artist; it may be crumpled resulting creases effect; it may be overlaid several times for different tones. Most artists combine the paper with other methods of collage.

Monotype is a singular image painted or drawn directly on a plate and then transferred to a sheet of paper by an etching press or hand-rubbing. When a monotype is to be hand-rubbed, rice paper produces very fine results. A thin sheet of tracing paper placed between rubbing tool and the monotype paper is sometimes desirable to prevent tearing the paper with the rubbing tool if the printing paper is thin.

Rembrandt used this paper for his etching when he could get it. 2-ply paper yields a flat sheet of final work, and it should be sized. Dampen the paper with a spray bottle. It cannot be sponged directly without being spoiled. For thin papers, especially if unsized, less moisture is required. Interleave damped papers with dry blotting-papers. It will be ready to receive the printing sheet after an hour or two.

Unsized paper tends to fluff, leaving tiny particles of fiber in the ink. However, the papers are so handsome that they are used despite their shortcomings. Although many of them can be used in lithography, strong 2-ply paper is more reliable. Dampen the paper only by a spray bottle. 1-ply papers are rarely dampened because they are so thin that they may tear while wet.

Rice paper makes suitable support for drawing media like charcoal, compressed charcoal, graphite stick, soft pastel, and ink. It can be used for drawing with subtle and well-developed tonal effects, as well as for a fast sketch. 2-ply paper can also be manipulated with fingers, eraser, or a paper stump to build tones.