Techniques/How-to’s

Citra Solv'd Nat Geo Page

Altering Magazine Papers with Citra Solv

I have taught workshops on how to use Citra Solv as an technique to get beautiful papers and people are always amazed at the results they get, and how easy and fun it is! Citra Solv is a cleaning product made from orange peels that alters National Geographic magazines. Yes, National Geographics work the best. Essentially Citra Solv softens the inks of the magazine and makes them soft again. You end up with gorgeous papers that can be used in mixed media artwork, collage or even to just be abstract art by themselves.

You can also use Citra Solv as a transfer medium, but today I will write about how to alter magazine pages. The simple steps below will give you a variety of different altering techniques.

Citra Solv is available in health food stores and online through Cheap Joe’s or Jerry’s Artarama. Be sure to get the regular Citra Solv, not the concentrate. You can also see the Citra Solv artists site http://www.citra-solv.com/newcitraartist/index.html for more information.

I work very intuitively and quickly, but if you are very detail oriented, then feel free to take a more controlled approach to this by keeping track of the timing and what year the magazine was, etc. (Yes, some years don’t work as well, but there’s no consensus about which) I encourage you to work with your style of approach. But overall, have fun!

Here’s how to do it:
Work outside as the product is strong. Prep a surface to work on– either a plastic tablecloth over a patio table or just on the grass. I work on a glass table outside on my studio deck and afterwards, wipe off the table with a sponge and it’s cleaner than when I started! My deck railing is made of stretched wire so I just clip my pages on it to dry. You will want an area to “dry” your papers, so if it’s windy out, set up a string clothesline on which to clip your pages. Please note that the product should not get into your eyes or mouth.

Supplies needed:
Citra Solv
National Geographic magazines
Plastic tablecloth
Smock
Latex gloves
Foam brushes
Bristle brushes
Q-Tips
Container for product (glass or plastic)
Spray bottle
Plastic Wrap
Bubble Wrap
Sponge and paper towels for clean up
string & tacks or nails to hang it
clothespins
x-acto knife

1. Prepare a work area. Set up your drying area as well. Put out a few National Geographics to work with. Put on your gloves. Pour some Citra Solv into a glass or plastic tub (margarine containers are good) and using a foam brush spread Citra Solv liberally on the colorful pages in the magazine, working from the back to the front of the publication and as you close one page on top of the previously applied page you are already altering the magazine imagery!

When you are done, let the magazine “cook” for about 5 minutes. Check it by opening a page in the middle, see if it looks like a gorgeous patterned paper or it may need to cook some more. When you like the results, cut the pages out with an x-acto knife and hang them up to dry. Note that both sides will be altered and it may be hard to choose which is better!

A note about copyright: be sure that the image you altered is unrecognizable. If it cooked long enough, it will be nothing like the original. This will avoid any copyright issues…don’t use it in your art if you can still tell what it is and where it was from.

2. Take a new magazine to work on, this time using a spray bottle. Find a particularly colorful page and watch what happens when the sprayed product starts to dissolve the inks. Note that where the product goes is where it dissolves and softens, so experiment with how fine the sprayer is set to control the texture on the papers.

You can also spread the ink around with a bristle brush, creating a “painting”, or draw into it with a Q-tip. This is particularly useful for the pages that have a lot of text, or black ink. Be creative and play with it. What can you come up with? Draw with it?

The process of peeling one page off another is what creates some of the patterns. Where the pages touch each other is going to create one type of pattern, just product alone will create another.

3. Next take another magazine and apply the Citra Solv. Take some plastic wrap and loosely put in between pages. Be sure it is loose with folds and texture, not tight and perfect, it’s the texture that will create patterns in the inks. Do this with as many pages as you like. After it’s cooked, and you remove the plastic wrap, you will be surprised and delighted with the results, they are like stained glass.

4. Try putting bubble wrap between some pages of the magazine after you have applied the Citra Solv. See what happens after it “cooks” and you remove the bubble wrap.

5. Cut the finished pages out and hang them to dry.

6. Create beautiful art, and let me know how you fared. I’d love to hear about your results, and what worked for you.