Ingres paper is a type of
drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...
paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...
. It is a
laid finish paper of light to medium
weight
In science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force acting on the object due to gravity.
Some standard textbooks define weight as a Euclidean vector, vector quantity, the gravitational force acting on the object. Others define weigh ...
, and it is not as strong or as durable as
Bristol paper
Bristol board (also referred to as Bristol paper or super white paper) is an uncoated, machine-finished paperboard. It is not named after the city of Bristol in the southwest of England but rather after Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol, ...
. Laid finish refers to the imprint of regular screen pattern of a papermaker's mould. Ingres is not necessarily a handmade paper, but is produced to replicate the properties of laid paper. Ingres is often used for
charcoal
Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...
and
pastel
A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those use ...
drawing.
It is also used as an
endpaper
The endpapers or end-papers of a book (also known as the endsheets) are the pages that consist of a double-size sheet folded, with one half pasted against an inside cover (the pastedown), and the other serving as the first free page (the free end ...
in books.
The development of Ingres paper for drawing is ascribed to the French Neoclassical artist
Dominique Ingres
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ( , ; 29 August 1780 – 14 January 1867) was a French Neoclassicism, Neoclassical Painting, painter. Ingres was profoundly influenced by past artistic traditions and aspired to become the guardian of academic ...
(1780-1867), although modern Ingres papers can differ from those actually used by Ingres. Ingres paper's pattern is a laid mesh. The laid effect creates a toothy grain of close lines on one side and a mottled surface on the reverse. The toothiness allows the paper to take charcoal easily and evenly. Ingres paper is favored in book arts for its antique appearance and
pH neutrality.
Prominent manufactures include
Canson
Canson is a French manufacturer of fine art paper and related products.
History
Origins
The story goes that Jean Montgolfier was taken prisoner by the Turks during the Crusades and was compelled to work in a paper mill in Damascus. There he le ...
,
Hahnemühle
Hahnemühle FineArt, Inc. is a paper manufacturing company in the Relliehausen district of Dassel, Germany. It is a significant producer of coated paper for inkjet printing, artist's paper for traditional painting and printing techniques, and fi ...
(sometimes called "German Ingres"), and
Fabriano
Fabriano is a town and ''comune'' of Province of Ancona, Ancona province in the Italy, Italian region of the Marche, at Above mean sea level, above sea level. It lies in the Esino valley upstream and southwest of Jesi; and east-northeast of Foss ...
. Ingres paper has a high rag content (around 65%) and is gelatin
sized. It is available in a variety of colors.
References
Paper
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