Altering Magazine Pages
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National Geographic “Prints”
with CitraSolv
by Karen Chew
1. Rustle up old copies of National Geographic magazines. If you don’t have a supply on hand, check out your local thrift stores, library bookstores, garage sales, Craigslist, and other community resources.
Sidebar: I love these wonderful magazines, loaded with gorgeous photographs and well-written articles. If you’re feeling the need to be green, read them first before recycling them into art!
2. Rip out the sales and promotional inserts for easy page turning.
3. Your work environment should be outdoors, in a well-ventilated area, free of curious pets and critters. Lay down several sheets of old newspapers as the ink from the magazines will dissolve and travel. Wear protective or old clothing as this process can get pretty inky and gloppy.
4. For easier handling and control, pierce the paper seal of a fresh bottle of CitraSolv with a sharp knife or with the tip of a pair of sharp scissors. The smaller the opening, the more control you’ll have.
Using full strength CitraSolv (Valencia Orange), generously sprinkle the pages that feature photographs. Precision isn’t necessary, but a decent saturation will get better results. The pages with text will dissolve a little, but they’re not as spectacular as the pages with photographs.
5. Depending on your local weather and humidity levels, you can check a page or two in about 10-20 minutes, as the CitraSolv begins to dissolve the ink of the pages. The adhesives in the binding are usually the first to break down.
The pages may stick gently together, but pull a few pages apart to see if you applied enough CitraSolv or not. The inks should dissolve resulting in subtle to colorful abstracted images.
When the pages are saturated, the inks dissolving, I begin to pull apart all of the pages in a loose pile, on the newspapers. It will appear messy, but forge on - this is a part of the process. The papers will usually dry overnight. I check them a few times to make sure that they’re pulled apart and kept fairly loose. If they stick together, it’s great - you may get an interesting “print” from gently pulling the pages apart.
Drying time: anywhere from an hour to a few, depending on your area. On a sunny day, the papers dry within an hour or two. I like to wait until the inks reset, usually by the next day.
Tips:
a. I like to give my papers extra outdoor breathing time so that the CitraSolv aroma dissipates and to ensure that the papers are very dry before I store them indoors.
b. Artistic license: the results range from “Subtle Change” to “Wow, That’s Really Cool”. Don’t be surprised if you get a couple of duds. I’ve had some pages, richly saturated with color, that just won’t dissolve, regardless of any amount of CitraSolv. I’ve been able to use the “prints” in a variety of ways - check on the creative projects section for some fun ways to use these papers.
c. Don’t worry. Your first run will be a bit experimental and you’ll know what to do next time.
Helen Percy Lystra's Tutorial:
Citrasolv and The New York Times
by Helen Percy Lystra
1. The supplies I use… a squirt bottle, Citra Solv and the magazine.
2. I know some artists use National Geographic and Citra Solv; however, the only magazine I’ve ever found to give me the results I’m looking for is the New York Times Magazine. I need to do more experimenting with National Geographic.
I hang the magazine using clips on a small rod in my studio, a clothes line would also work.
3. If you use a clothes line you can lay the magazine out flat and spray each page, then hang it over the line. I hang it like you see above and then lift all of the pages and begin lowering them one by one, spraying each and then let it drop.
4. I let them hang all day or overnight before opening the pages to see what I got, sometimes I hang it back up and spray again. These are examples of the results from the one I’m spraying above. Some of these I’ll leave as is, some I’ll spray again
I’ll use the resulting paper for collage, mixed media work and to cover wood frames.
