GB2255319A - Production of textured artwork - Google Patents

Abstract

Textured effects may be produced, e.g. using felt tip art markers, by providing on a paper substrate a texture pattern in an essentially invisible material which nevertheless markedly alters the absorption characteristics of the substrate surface. Of particular effectiveness are so-called bleed proof marker papers with an invisible texture pattern printed on one side. When marked with a felt tip marker, a textured pattern appears as a result of differential absorption. The hidden texture pattern may be applied by various printing methods, e.g. lithographic printing using a clear or white varnish or extender. <IMAGE>

Description

PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED ARTWORK This invention relates to the production of textured artwork.

In the production of commercial artwork for visualisation, advertising and other purposes, a variety of artistic techniques may be employed by the skilled artist in order to enhance the artwork itself.

One well known such technique is to provide an impression of texture on an otherwise flat area.

Lines giving the impression of a texture may, of course, be drawn by hand, but this tends to be time consuming and to require particular skill if an even texture effect is to be obtained. One alternative is to use pre-printed texture-simulating materials, and these are commercially available in a variety of forms. Two particular forms which may be mentioned are texture dry transfer sheets, for example those sold under the Registered Trade Mark INSTANTEX, and thin adhesive films on to which a texture pattern has been printed. Such films, adhered to a carrier film from which they may be removed as desired, are sold, e.g. under the Registered Trade Mark LETRATONE.

A fairly wide variety of such texture patterns is available in dry transfer or adhesive sheet form, but generally only printed in black. Certain popular texture patterns are available in colours, though not in a very wide range of colours. Thus if an artist wishes to impart an impression of texture to an area of colour, this is not always easy to achieve save by hand, and even this is time consuming and requires skill and practice.

We have now found that textured effects may be obtained with ease by using as the substrate on which the artwork is done a material having a "hidden" texture and using to provide an image on the surface an applicator which reveals the previously hidden texture.

Thus, in a first broad-aspect, the present invention provides apparatus fdr producing textured artwork comprising, in combination, a substrate and an art applicator, the substrate bearing over at least part of its surface a substantially imperceptible texture pattern in the form of a textured variation in absorbency of the surface of the substrate and the art applicator including a fluent colouring material therein of a type which is differentially absorbed on application to the substrate to reveal a perceptible texture pattern.

We have found that, using such apparatus, textured areas and textured illustrations may be produced with ease.

The differential absorption gives a texture-imparting pattern of different tints of the same colour.

The substantially imperceptible texture pattern, or hidden texture is preferably applied by printing on to the substrate using as printing "ink" or paste a material which, when applied thereto, is essentially invisible.

Thus, for example, a printing ink may be used which is the same colour as the substrate, or which is essentially colourless. The latter generally gives better results, particularly when the substrate consists of white paper.

A wide variety of printing inks, lacquers, varnishes and extenders may be used, and, if desired, additives may be included in addition to their normal components in order to enhance the differential surface absorption characteristic sought when practising the present invention. Such additives may take the form of additives tending to decrease the absorbency of the applied print, for example including waxes or oils, or additives which will increase its absorbency so that it has an enhanced absorbency relative to the unprinted areas of the substrate. For example, inks with high concentrations of silica matting agents and with high application rates (e.g. applied by screen printing) may provide textured printed areas of greater absorbency to the fluid marking material than the unprinted substrate surface.

The basic absorbency of the substrate surface may vary widely and, if desired, may arise from one or more prior treatments to the substrate surface, e.g. coating with a suitable coating composition to adjust the surface absorbency to that desired.

If the hidden texture is printed, this may be effected by a wide variety of methods including offset printing, planographic printing, gravure printing and screen printing. Gravure flexographic printing gives very good results.

More than one hidden texture print may be applied to the substrate. Such prints may be in register with one another or may be purposely out of register to achieve desired effects. In one particular embodiment of the present invention, a substrate is printed twice with two partly overlapping texture prints. This gives rise to a substrate having a hidden texture but where parts of the substrate have only the natural absorbency thereof, parts an absorbency modified by one print and parts a yet different absorbency, i.e. the absorbency of the substrate as modified by two printings. Thus, three different absorbencies will provide three different colour depths when a fluent colouring material is applied thereto.

The application of fluent colouring material from an art applicator may take a variety of forms. Preferred is to use a solution of a dye in water or a solvent from a felt nib or felt tip marker. Typical solvents may be aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbon solvents such as xylene or mineral spirits, alcoholic solvents such as ethanol, l-propanol or 2-propanol, or water or water based solvents, e.g. mixtures of water with one or more alcohols or glycols. However, other types of application may be used if desired, for example pen or brush with a liquid ink or even an airbrush. The term colouring is used herein to include both black and white as well as spectral or other colours. Colours may be imparted using dyes or pigments (preferably so-called transparent pigments) or a mixture of the two. Dyes used are preferably soluble in the solvent or solvent mix used.

If pigments are used, particularly in marker ink formulations, it is preferred to include a small percentage of resin dissolved or dispersed in the fluent colouring material.

A particularly preferred art material for use in apparatus in accordance with the present invention consists of so-called bleed proof paper with a hidden texture pattern printed thereon. Such paper itself is a novel art material and constitutes a further feature of the invention.

Bleed proof paper is a known article, and consists of a sheet of paper having on one side a resin based or other coating designed to prevent penetration through the paper of water, solvent or water/solvent mixes such as are used in felt tip art markers. Thus, in accordance with a particular feature of the present invention, there is provided a texture providing marker paper consisting of a sheet of paper having a bleed proof coating on one side and having printed on its other side a substantially imperceptible texture pattern.

Such material appears, on casual inspection, to look like a sheet of normal bleed proof marker paper. However, if a marker is used to apply a colour thereto, the absorbency of the paper varies thus giving rise to a textured dye takeup and accordingly to a textured effect when viewed.

Such papers are very useful for illustrations and may be provided in a wide variety of pre-printed texture patterns. Examples of patterns which may be useful are half tone and line screen patterns, simulated fabric weave patterns, embossed or ingres paper patterns, mezzotint or stipple patterns and other patterns of checks or stripes.

Sometimes it is desired, when using hidden texture materials in accordance with the present invention, not to provide texture overall but to provide areas of flat colour. This may be achieved in principle in three ways: first by removing the hidden texture from the substrate surface where desired, e.g. using a fibreglass eraser, secondly by applying where desired material to render the surface of overall absorbency and the third (which is really a variation of the second) overlaying a new substrate on top of the desired areas. This last may be time consuming to achieve, though it can be useful for large areas. For example, a thin masking film may be adhered over areas where it is desired to suppress the texture effect.

If the texture pattern is printed in a soluble material, then the pattern may be destroyed by the application of a suitable solvent. This is sometimes difficult to achieve while ensuring that with most commercially available art marker pens, the textured pattern is still preserved.

Accordingly a preferred alternative is to provide a marker pen which itself dispenses a clear ink or lacquer which makes no or very little difference to the colour of the surface to which it is applied but which makes a major difference to the absorbency thereof. We have found that, in particular, markers containing a solution of casein in ammonia/water can provide very even effects.

The area where it is not desired to have the textured effect is simply coated using a casein filled marker and then subsequently coloured with an appropriate coloured marker. A suitable composition is (parts by weight): Commercial casein (including preservative Purecase ex Erie Casein Co) 8 parts 10% aqueous ammonia 3 parts water 89 parts The optional addition of a matting agent (e.g. 0.2 parts of finely divided silica (Aerosil 200, ex Degussa) improves the divisibility of the applied coating.

In an alternative, which produces a far less absorbent surface than one for the coating of casein, and particularly where the hidden texture pattern has lower absorbency than the absorbency of the paper surface, an application of a low absorbency material may well provide an adequate evening out of absorbency such that the texture becomes imperceptible. For example, lithographic, white ink or varnish or extenders applied to paper in a texture pattern may have their texture imparting properties nullified by applying over desired areas a solution of polyethylene glycol (e.g. Carbowax 20M ex Union Carbide) in water or a 10% solution of a styrene/maleic acid ester copolymer resin (e.g. Suprapal A20, ex BASF) in a mixture of 80 parts by weight ethanol and 10 parts by weight methoxy propanol. These coatings seal the surface and render it relatively non-absorbent.

A wide variety of colourless or nearly colourless or white inks is available in commerce and which may be used in the practice of the present invention, applied by appropriate printing techniques. We have found that particularly good results may be obtained using lithographically printed white inks such as white basic ink, designation JPW-050/5 from Flint Ink Corporation, Detroit, Michigan or by using relatively clear lithographic varnish available from the same company under designation JPW-026.

Claims (8)

1. Apparatus for producing textured artwork comprising, in combination, a substrate and an art applicator, the substrate bearing over at least part of its surface a substantially imperceptible texture pattern in the form of a textured variation in absorbency of the surface of the substrate and the art applicator including a fluent colouring material therein of a type which is differentially absorbed on application to the substrate to reveal a perceptible texture pattern.

2. Apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the substrate is paper and the texture is applied by printing with a transparent or a translucent ink, lacquer or varnish.

3. Apparatus according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the textured pattern provides the substrate with greater than two levels of absorbency relative to the fluent medium.

4. Apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the art applicator is a felt tip marker containing a dye containing ink.

5. Apparatus according to Claim 4, wherein the dye containing ink is based on water, a mixture of water and an alcohol or a mixture of water and xylene.

6. Apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 to 5 and including means for applying a coating of material to the hidden texture on the substrate surface to provide an area of substantially even absorbency.

7. Apparatus according to any one of Claims 1 to 6, wherein the substrate is a piece of paper having on the side opposite the applied texture a bleed proof coating.

8. An art material consisting of a paper substrate having on one side a coating of bleed proof material and having on the other side a texture pattern applied thereto in the material substantially invisible against the surface of the paper but providing a textured absorbency pattern on the side of the substrate to which it is applied.