Glossy Experiment

A reader asked a question about the card I previously posted................

"I've always wondered, and now can ask: WHY do you use glossy paper? I'm thinking of expensive photo paper that I'm not about to stamp on when I can use glassy glaze to add shine."

Well, lovely reader, in this instance I wasn't going for shine, though that is a bonus with this technique, I was looking to get the effect I wanted with the ink.

To show you what I mean I've done a little experiment.

First, I stamped the image - which is a lined image and not solid - in VersaMark on regular cardstock and glossy cardstock and then coated that with clear embossing powder. (Keep in mind, it's always much more of a challenge to do this in a room with a fan blowing on you!)

Then I used my heat gun to emboss the images.  (Have I mentioned that I stamp in my bathing suit now? )

Then I put a couple of drops of reinker onto one of my acrylic blocks and picked some up with my aquapainter. 

Without pretreating either of the papers, I applied the ink directly to the paper with the aquapainter first.  On the second image of each sheet, I first spritzed the paper with water and then applied the ink.

So you see the results below.  The first is not bad but streaky and yes, it does give a flat looking image.  The plain cardstock just soaks up the liquid and does not let it blend.

The water spritzed paper is terribly washed out.  Again, the plain cardstock just acts like a sponge.

The glossy with just ink is again, streaky.  The brush marks are not exactly the effect I wanted to achieve.

But this is the effect that I'm going for.  I tried to speed up the drying process with the heat gun and you can see the water marks a little where it was really pooled.  Normally, I would let it dry a bit more on it's own.   The glossy paper doesn't soak up the liquid allowing it to pool and the ink to blend with the water thus giving it a natural look.

The results side-by-side. 

So I hope, dear reader, that this will answer your question.