Foma Art Base paper for hand coloring

I'm getting ready to start a new project and I wanted to see if anyone has used Foma Art Base (542) paper for hand coloring. I've gotten great results from Ilford MGIV FB matte paper, and I will continue to use it for most of my hand coloring, but I thought that the heavier texture and cream base of this Foma paper might give interesting results that would suit this project better.

The only real concern I have is the tooth of the Foma paper - if it is too great it will make blending and lifting difficult and the translucency of the paint may be reduced, both of which would certainly be bad. It seems like the texture of the paper would preserve the matte finish better than the MGIV (which can take on a glossy finish after everything is said and done) which would be nice. The consistency of the cream base would also be a plus, but I can use various toners with the MGIV or Warmtone papers to achieve the warm tone before coloring if the tooth is a problem.

If anyone has any personal experience hand coloring the Foma paper I would certainly appreciate any insights you might want to share.

- Randy

Never tried coloring, but I will say, the stuff certainly has tooth. It's pretty extreme. If you haven't played with any yet, I suggest you start out with a small order.

I've heard it described as similar in feel to watercolor paper, but there are many different papers and depending on the make and treatment, they can be rough as a cob or plate smooth. I assume that it is similar to a cold press paper, but I'll likely start with a small pack of 5x7 as a sample given your comments. Thanks for the info!

- Randy

It's a cob, all right. You're welcome, and good luck!

It does indeed have a watercolor paper feel to it: lots of texture, very similar to Kentmere's old Art Classic. It's also a very, very warm paper...much too warm for my personal taste. Of course, one could always develop it in a cold-tone developer to get it into more neutral terriroty. Fortunately, Freestyle's new catalog lists a new neutral-tone version of this paper coming out, called 532 Chamois Natural Base. I suspect this will look much like Kentmere's Art Document.

If you're looking for a Matte surface that's more flat, you might want to consider trying Slavich Unibrom from Russia. Granted, it's in grades #2 & #3 only (no VC, sorry to say), but the Matte samples I've seen are very, very flat. I haven't seen any attempts at handcoloring with this paper yet, but I wouldn't rule it out entirely yet.

Or, you could take a shot at Fotokemika Varycon, as they have a Matte surface VC in both FB and RC.