Test and Practice - All Guttas
Make a practice to test the dilution of the gutta, by drawing on test
piece of silk
stretched on a small frame, or by drawing on the silk edges overlapping
your frame which
will be cut off later. Your aim is to make the lines as thin as
possible.
- Hold the pen the same way as you would hold a pencil. Hold it in the
middle
where the sides are softest.
- If gutta runs from the pen without you squeezing it, pour some of the
mixture
back into the bottle and add more diluted gutta to the applicator, to
thicken the mix.
- Squeeze the applicator pen very gently and draw a line along the
silk. The faster
you draw the more likely it is that the lines will be too thin. Do not
press down so
hard as it will tear or catch the silk: to get a more definite or
thicker line you squeeze
in on the pen and draw more slowly.
- If the nib catches on the silk without your pressing down, then thee
nib be rough.
In this case, file it smooth with the metal nailfile.
- If you have to squeeze hard on the pen to get the gutta to come out,
so that your
hand gets tired, the mix is too thick. You will need to pour some back
into the gutta
bottle to make room for more spirit. Or more water in the case of
water-based
guttas.
- If your gutta makes blobs, the mix may be too dilute, or you may be
using too big a nib.
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