Mixed media - watercolour painting on a dye inkjet print (Pro 100s)

[AvErps]

Hey everyone,

I’m looking for some advice on printing for a mixed media project. A big part of my creative process is post-production—I love getting into the flow of editing, tweaking, and transforming images. To take that further, I recently bought a second-hand Canon Pixma Pro 100s with the idea of printing my photos and then hand-painting over them with watercolors. The idea is to create a hybrid of photography and painting, something akin to hand-tinted silver gelatin prints but in a digital workflow.

The problem: my first test prints on basic (no-brand) watercolor paper looked terrible—blurry, splotchy, just awful. However, when I printed on glossy photo paper, the quality was great, so I know the printer itself is fine. I’ve ordered some budget-coated paper (Ilford Gallery Matte Duo), but quite sure the ink would smear so I’d love to get some insight before throwing more money into experimentation.

From my research, I’ve come across several possible solutions, but I’m not sure which route makes the most sense given my technical knowledge (limited) and budget (also limited):

• Pigment ink vs. dye ink: I’ve read that pigment ink works better for this kind of mixed media approach, but the Pixma Pro 100s uses dye ink. Am I fighting a losing battle here?
• RIP software & inkload adjustments: Some posts mention using a RIP (Raster Image Processor) to modify the inkload when printing on watercolor paper. I have no idea what this means or how to do it—any Mac-compatible tutorials out there?
• Carbon ink conversion: I’ve seen people modify printers to use carbon inks, but this sounds expensive and irreversible. Has anyone tried this for a similar purpose?
• Printable coatings: I’ve read online about different coatings that allow inkjet printing on uncoated watercolor paper—albumen, gelatin, InkAid, Ilford Gallery Blend A. Maybe this can be applied AFTER the inkjet print and BEFORE the watercolour? Has anyone had success with these?

Ultimately, I’d love to be able to print on uncoated or lightly coated watercolor paper and then manipulate the print with watercolors. If anyone has experience with this kind of workflow, I’d really appreciate your insights! Also, if you know of any contemporary artists working in a similar way, please share. The only one I’ve found so far is Shae Detar, she prints at home on watercolour paper and then paints it. So the proces I would like to try.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[snowbear]

Have you tried Bristol Board? Maybe try a pack of the vellum textured or the dual surface (smooth one side, slight tooth on the vellum side). It’s only slightly rough but might work for you. If not, use it for some charcoal drawing.

Otherwise get a small pack of decent cold pressed water color like Canson or Stratford. 5x7 should be big enough for testing.

There are also papers made for pastels that will have a tooth but not as much as cold pressed water color paper. I have no experience with them.

 

[terri]

Hi - welcome to TPF! I will only be able to give you a quick answer at the moment, but maybe something for you to chew on.

You write:

• Pigment ink vs. dye ink: I’ve read that pigment ink works better for this kind of mixed media approach, but the Pixma Pro 100s uses dye ink. Am I fighting a losing battle here?

Answer: maybe. There are some printers that have dye-based ink for colors, but their blacks are pigment based. Since your goal is hand coloring I'm assuming you'd be printing in B&W, so check your printer to be sure.

I'm a hand coloring artist from way back, and the transition from silver gelatin prints using photo oils to a hybrid approach has been slow and painful. But with some adjustments we can probably get you going. Don't throw in the towel yet.

 

[AvErps]

cold pressed water color paper

Thanks for the paper recommendation. As in this type of paper could be less prone to smearing if I print on it and then watercolour over the print?

I'm assuming you'd be printing in B&W, so check your printer to be sure.

That gave me some hope indeed. Unfortunately after some googling, I'm reading that it is in fact dye ink, even the black cartridge...

But then again a lot of semi-pro printers are dye based and the artist I mentioned also prints at home, so there's a good probability that she also has a dye printer. So either she found a paper that was receptive to inkjet ink AND watercolour without smearing. OR she found a way to fixate the inkjet print before painting it with watercolour.

A gallery with her prints for sale mentions this about the paper: "Printed on Archival UltraSmooth 250gsm paper". If I'm not mistaken that's a paper by Epson that's coated for inkjet printing.

 

[terri]

Okay, so you have definitely discovered that your printer uses dye-based inks. You have to proceed with that. There are several papers you can try, including cold pressed WC papers as Snowbear mentions. (But regarding your question about WC papers themselves making your dye inks less prone to smearing, that's not likely. WC papers are made to really absorb WC paints - so they're not likely to have any kind of coating. But - you can explore online and see what's out there.)

What you are encountering is the challenge of having to print using dye-based inks, which are very likely to run when liquid hits them, while wanting to use a water based media over them.

I really don't see how you'll get watercolors to flow over dye-based inks without first protecting those inks, once you've printed your image. To answer your question, yes, print your image and let it dry/set up for a bit. Then you might start with a workable fixative spray, like Krylon. It will create a barrier that might be enough to protect the inks from WC paints. (You already know about stronger barriers, such as gel medium or gelatin - remember these are water-based and might also cause the inks to run when applied). InkAid? That's supposed to work best with pigment inks.)

The conundrum is that a strong barrier might also prevent the WC paints from soaking into the paper fibers. A fixative spray might be light enough to both protect the inks from running , and still allow the WC paint to absorb.

If the artist you mentioned prints from home, it would be interesting to learn her process and what she actually uses. If it's a dye based printer then she must be coating her printed images before applying WC paints. Dye based inks aren't as archival as pigment based inks, so if she's selling her work she must be protecting the layers at some point during her process. Maybe she discusses this somewhere online?

Your other options are to try other mediums to hand color your photos with. A dry medium won't be a problem at all. Soft pastels, or high quality colored pencils like Coloursoft from Derwent could work. Prismacolor makes beautiful wax pencils, as well as watercolor pencils you could apply dry and perhaps mist over later for a WC effect. I love oil pastels, some of which are quite transparent. If you printed on Arches Oil Paper, you would likely only need to spray your print with workable fix ahead of using them. That Arches paper has gesso in the pulp when it's made so it's ready for oil-based mediums.

It's easy to fall in love with someone's work and want to do exactly as they are doing, but as you are discovering it can be challenging without some details. But if hand coloring is your objective, you can definitely get there using your printer and a variety of media.

Hope this helps.

 

[snowbear]

You may want to forgo watercolors and use acrylics. Try putting a protectant over the photo, then use acrylic washes. Again, experiment small and start with student quality paints, like Liquitex Basics

 

[terri]

Agreed. Acrylics work very nicely over photos, as long as they're thinned with water - or start with Golden Fluid acrylics, which give an indication as to opacity on every color. It could resemble WC nicely, I agree.

The OP definitely has to create a barrier of some sort over those dye based inks.

 

[snowbear]

I’d try a matte acrylic varnish (brush) or a spray fixative over the whole photo print, then acrylic paints over that. I’ve heard of people using hair spray as a fixative but it will yellow over time.

 

[Golem]

Why are you printing BEFORE painting if the painting is messing up the printing ?!? Just reverse the order.

I can well imagine at least two versions of doing the watercolor before the final inkjet image, then feeding that into the printer for the final inkjet image.

Im thinking of using two versions of an image file ... a very faint "guide sketch" and a "normal" image. First print the faint image which guides step two, the paint work. Step three is printing the final inkjet image onto that same sheet.

The second idea is to not print a "guide sketch", but do the watercolor first anyway. Youre an artist ?? You can manage this by various visual means. (You might use a grid ... or not.)

No, I never tried exactly what I suggest, but Ive done enough mixed media to know that the order in which materials must be applied will sometimes dictate the creative process.