Washi Paper: Light Passing Through Fibers

A close-up of a sheet of handmade Washi paper, with light behind it. The paper's thickness is uneven, so the degree of light transmission varies—thinner areas are brighter, thicker areas are darker, forming soft and irregular cloud-like layers; the interwoven network of long plant fibers in the pulp is clearly visible, with some fibers being coarser and forming distinct lines. The paper's color is a warm off-white, and its edges are hand-torn and feathery. It is stretched onto a fine wooden lattice frame as a sliding door, with the dark lines of the lattice forming a clear grid on the glowing paper surface. There is an old repair mark on the paper, slightly darker in color. The light passing through becomes extremely soft. Avoid: using uniform machine-made paper, eliminating fiber texture, making the paper opaque, using cold white light.

Translated from Chinese by AI.

一片手抄和紙的近景,背後有光。紙的厚薄不均,因此透光的程度各處不同——薄的地方明亮、厚的地方較暗,形成柔和而不規則的雲狀層次;可以清楚看見紙漿中長長的植物纖維交錯排列的網狀結構,有些纖維較粗形成明顯的線條。紙的顏色是溫暖的米白,邊緣是手撕的毛邊。它被繃在細木格的框上作為拉門,木格的深色線條在發光的紙面上形成清楚的網格。紙上有一處舊的修補痕跡,顏色略深。光穿過後變得極為柔和。避免:使用均勻的機器製紙、消除纖維的紋理、把紙面畫成不透光、使用冷白的光。