Thanks - a very useful test!
I did a test with the Newlyn – Yosemite. I was sent a short sample roll and it was enough to profile and make couple of smallish prints. The untreated finish is akin to linen.
My Z3200 had no problem building a profile for it. I made a night time work and a finely nuanced pastel-like daylight work on this. The pastel work came out nice but the dark one was a bit blocked up. It may be fixable but anywho my main use for this media would be for pastels and warmer colors.
I suspect this would be correctable with further profiling, and may be just a matter of how the Z3200 calculates its profiles by default. Canon printers tend to produce better details in dark areas than HP or Epson printers by default, and it's entirely due to the profile.
There are small bumps on the surface. I didn’t count but maybe 15 or so on a 2’ long segment. I don’t think these are defects but just the way the media is produced.
So, just like linen or raw cotton canvas.
The first problem I encountered was when trying to remove dust and crud just before applying Glamour II (G2). It is difficult to remove dust or particulate matter from the surface. I use air in a can and the surface grabs stuff and doesn’t let it go. I didn’t find a good solution for this but may try a vaccuum.
How long did you have to leave it to dry before coating it?
Leaving it to dry hanging vertically under a dust cover might be the way to go...
I applied a purposefully heavy coat of G2. Given limited a sample I figured a little too much was better than two little. The finish cured okay. The finished surface feels a little like the texture of, well, about 100 grit sand paper. That’s what my partner said of it. The pastel work looks nice but it will be a dust magnet. I’m used to the finish of Lexjet Sunset Matt and this is a country away from that. I don’t think anyone could get away with using a damp cloth to clean this.
Were you using glossy, lustre or matte varnish? If glossy, how was the final gloss.
Did you use one coat, or several?
Any problems with air bubbles, uneven coating, etc.?
I used gator board as a backing and miracle muck to bond the work to the backing. The back of the media reminds me a little of cellophane. It is definitely not porous in the way typical canvas is porous. I noticed that it trapped air very easily while I was applying the work to the muck coated garboard. It did not want to lay flat without some effort and required a fair amount of massaging to get it to lay down completely.
In summary it’s about a 2.5 star PITA to work with.
Presumably, you wouldn't have this problem when stretching it rather than mounting it. So it's a bit like mounting a polyester film or RC paper?
I have a bunch of shows coming up and will work in a test of the monument valley media in the near future.
Thanks again - looking forward to it!
