Printing on Rice Paper

Greetings:

 

I'd like to try printing on interesting, textured papers: so-called

'rice paper' or something like that, from my Epson 820. Any

suggestions? I'm worried that the various handmade papers I could find

at the local art supply store might gum up my printer.

 

Many of the photos at www.starnstudio.com say they are printed on

Gambi, Kozo, or other Oriental paper. Where can I find paper like

this, and is it safe to run through an Epson inkjet?

Great question and I will only say my first response (a couple more times) because I have had great results printing on Johannat (Dick Blick is an excellent source)-one of the world's finest printmaking papers and I'd hate to see it become unavailable. Black only and MIS variable quadtone printed beautifully on this non-coated-for-inkjet paper. Bought from a graphics art supplier, it is much less expensive than our regularly available fine art inkjet papers. All the excellent graphic suppliers have picked up on the modern wind-consult Dick Blick, Graphic Chemical, Rembrandt Chemical, McClain's, etc.-they all now list digital equivalents of the papers you refer to, as well as notes about what papers will work in laser printers or inkjet printers. I haven't tried it out yet, but Subi Block Printing Paper would be an excellent candidate-it is a hardy, very fine quality yet CHEAP printmaking paper. One of the tricks in getting thicker paper to feed in printers without a straight paper path (one of the great features of the 2200) is to load only one sheet of paper supported by a cardboard/mat board/etc. that is too thick to be feed through the printer. I always load special papers manually to make sure things will take. Also, Japanese papers have excellent dry strength and should work well. GOOD LUCK with your explorations..............

Thanks for the tips. I'm looking for some papers at the local art supply places, but DickBlick is a great resource.

 

Thanks again for the direction.