Blue paper

Blue paper (known in Italian as carta azzurra, carta cerulea, and carta turchina) has often been used as a support for drawings and prints by artists. With its inherent middle tone, blue paper is a particularly effective material for rendering the effects of three-dimensionality on a two dimensional surface. This effect is created through the use of light and dark drawing materials, like chalk, charcoal, ink, and white heightening, on blue paper.