Technique: Citra-Solv Papers

Citra-Solv Papers

Ever since I first saw this technique, I have been dying to try it! It was super easy to do although very messy and smelly. I took my stuff out to the garage for this project and I could still smell it inside the house.

You'll need just a few supplies to get started...

• Citra-Solv concentrate
• National Geographic magazine (you can try others but I've heard these work best)
• a shallow pan or tray to contain your mess
• paper towels
• rubber gloves

Basically, all you do is sprinkle the solvent on each page, close the book, and wait about 20 minutes. That being said, here are a few things I learned from this first experience...

1) You only need to sprinkle the pages. If you use too much solvent, the ink will just run off your pages. Here you see can how the pages that were just sprinkled turned out quite well:

While the ones that I soaked in solution were complete duds:

2) Don't smash your book too hard or you'll squish out all of the dissolved ink.
3) Don't be afraid to play with the wet pages.
4) Try masking off interesting areas where you want to preserve the imagery.

This is a great video to watch before you get started:
https://youtu.be/FskgfDxI__M

Citra-Solv also has several tutorials and galleries on their website here:
http://www.citrasolv.com/art/index.html

Here are some of my favorite pages from this experiment... Which one is your favorite?

UPDATE:

Cathy C. tried a different technique with her Citra-Solv. She put a light coating of

it across her magazine page and let it set for about a minute. Then she dipped a brush

into some clean Citra-solv and painted across her page creating different patterns

and shapes.

Be sure to wipe your brush off periodically to

get the ink off and then re-dip in clean Citra-solv.

She also tried two other citrus base cleaners

with limited success. It took a lot of manipulation

and a lot of cleaner to get these to look like this.

Not nearly the effect that Citra-solv can create.

Let us know if you have any better luck with

an alternative to Citra-solv.