Instructions I share in the Preparatory email I give to course students - if there are new students I take you through this process live:
HOW TO PREPARE YOUR PAPER
Boil water and make yourself a cup of black tea - except with 3-5 teabags of black tea and in a bowl, not a cup. I find cheap teas work well as they are full of tea dust and added tannins for colour! Plus don’t waste your expensive teas - actually drink them :-)
Prepare 2 sponges🧽 - one for the tea stain, one for the starch
Stick and stretch your A3 papers onto a board with masking tape - don't worry if you don't know how, as we can do this step together. Just gather the materials (papers, board, masking tape)
Set up your hob/cooker with a pan and a whisk (preferable) or fork and set aside your starch
Wear messy clothes. I forgot to tell you this right at the beginning, as I take it for granted that most of my clothes have some kind of art stain on them...
Use one sponge to wipe a thin layer of tea across your paper (do not immerse the sponge, just dip it so that only the surface is all wet with liquid and just wipe a thin layer)
Repeat the above but in a perpendicular fashion
Do as many layers of tea stain (or equivalent) that you like - has to be touch dry in between layers
While this is drying, make your starch. If you put a small amount of starch, say a teaspoon, then add an appropriate amount of water to make it milk like in consistency. Cook but do not boil. You want small little bubbles and not a rolling boil, more like a simmer. There will be a point where it changes chemically and becomes glue (size = glue) like in consistency. There is an extreme point of no return where it seizes up and there's no going back, and it becomes too thick to use, and gloopy and like Pritt stick. You don't want to go here! Keep it wet and liquid like PVA/children's white glue. You want to change it from the original milk like consistency to a double cream consistency. It will be more viscous in the pan and then you'll know it's ready.
Use the other sponge to wipe a thin layer of starch across your paper (do not immerse the sponge, just dip it so that only the surface is all wet with liquid and just wipe a thin layer)
Repeat the above but in a perpendicular fashion
Do minimum 2 layers, max 3 layers of starch - has to be touch dry in between layers
When your paper is bone dry (leave overnight), then burnish it the next day all over so it is all smooth. If you run your hand over it it will sound softer and more silent than an unburnished paper. You can also experiment with different paper dyes if you have time eg coffee, onion skin, avocado, turmeric, saffron and the whole rabbit hole of paper dyeing!
@Lizzie Hobbs hope the above helps!