Paper, Wood, Leather

At a glance

All three are tree-related, warm to touch, and age by recording use.

The threads that tie it together

Honesty is the core: these materials show what they are, and the best versions of each hide nothing.

• Honesty. Fibres, grain and pores sit on the surface, and wear shows openly.
• Texture first. Irregular, non-repeating detail keeps my fingertips noticing.
• Warmth. They don't pull heat from my hand, and their colours look warm too.
• Slow, durable ageing. They change with use over years, not weeks, and last decades or centuries.
• They take my mark. A pen line, a fold, a cut: a little resistance, then a permanent trace.
• Craft as a medium. Pencil, pen, ink, painting, writing, colouring and origami today; woodworking and leatherwork as interests.
• Expressivity. The gap between sloppy and masterful work is easy to see and feel.

Texture and warmth

Fingertips are packed with receptors tuned to fine vibration, so natural micro-texture gives a steady stream of feedback that glass and plastic don't.

Paper

• Tooth depends on pressing: hot-pressed is smooth, cold-pressed gently bumpy, rough is pebbly.
• Pencil feels good because the tooth files graphite off the tip.
• Sizing decides whether ink sits crisp or feathers out.
• Air trapped between fibres means it barely draws heat from my hand.

Wood

• Grain comes from growth rings: soft fast-growth wood alternating with denser slow-growth wood.
• Oak and ash have open pores I can feel; maple and cherry are tighter and silkier.
• Hollow, air-filled cells make a wooden floor feel warm barefoot while tile feels cold.

Leather

• The outer grain side keeps the animal's pores and marks; the inner side is fuzzy suede.
• The fibre web traps air and absorbs warmth and skin oils, slowly shaping to my hand.

Ageing and character

Each material keeps an accurate record of light, habits and use, so two identical objects end up completely different. I prefer things that age slowly and last.

Paper

• Wood-pulp paper yellows as light and air oxidise its lignin; acids slowly make it brittle.
• Foxing (small brown spots) comes from moisture, mould or traces of iron.
• Corners soften and a notebook thickens as it fills.
• Iron gall ink starts blue-black and browns over time.
• Cotton and acid-free paper age very slowly.

Wood

• Sunlight shifts colour by species: cherry deepens to red-brown, walnut lightens, outdoor oak goes silver-grey.
• Skin oils darken and polish handles, armrests and spoon bowls.
• Softer wood between rings wears faster, so old floors and steps show raised grain.
• Dents and knife marks record every use.

Leather

• Vegetable-tanned leather darkens with sun and skin oils, sometimes within weeks.
• Collagen fibres loosen with flexing, so it relaxes into a shape.
• Creases form where it bends; rubbed edges and corners turn glossy.

The Japanese idea of wabi-sabi is close to this: beauty in the marks of time and use.

Surprising strengths and durability

The strength comes from structure, process and use, not from making the material harder.

Paper: friction and geometry

• Interleaved phonebooks grip harder the more you pull: pages tilt and press against their neighbours. They have resisted being pulled apart by cars.
• Folding turns a floppy sheet stiff, like corrugated card. The Miura fold has been used for satellite solar panels.
• Washi made from long plant fibres without acids can last over 1,000 years; 8th-century documents survive in Japan.

Wood: fire and form

• Charring cedar (yakisugi / shou sugi ban) forms a carbon layer that resists water, rot, insects and UV for decades.
• Thick timber chars on the outside and insulates its core, often holding up in fire longer than steel, which softens.
• Hōryū-ji temple in Japan has timber framing from around the 7th century.

Leather: use

• Burnishing uses friction heat and pressure to compress and align collagen fibres while oils fill the gaps.
• Daily use burnishes it slowly, smoothing it to my exact grip so it feels familiar.
• Good vegetable-tanned leather, cared for, can last generations.

Colour and pattern

All three get their warm beiges and browns from trees: paper is made from trees, wood is tree, and leather is coloured by trees.

• Paper: cream-to-yellow tones come from lignin, the same compound in wood.
• Wood: browns and reds come from tannins and other natural compounds in its cells.
• Leather: vegetable tanning uses tannins from the bark of oak, chestnut or mimosa.

Why the colours soothe. Brown is a dark, muted orange and beige a pale one. They sit with firelight, late sun, soil and skin, and their low saturation reads as calm rather than demanding.

Why the patterns hold my eye. Grain, fibres and pores are ordered but never exactly repeat. Patterns like this tend to lower stress and create "soft fascination": attention held without effort, like watching clouds or a fire. Manufactured patterns either repeat perfectly and get tuned out, or look random and feel chaotic.

The other senses

I enjoy these materials with almost every sense, not just touch.

Craft, mastery and expressivity

These materials carry thousands of years of hand knowledge, and because nothing can be undone, they show skill very clearly.

Traditions of mastery

• Washi makers spend years learning to beat fibres, mix them with plant mucilage and shake the mould evenly. UNESCO recognised washi papermaking as intangible cultural heritage in 2014.
• Temple carpenters (miyadaiku) read each tree before cutting. Tsunekazu Nishioka, who restored Hōryū-ji, taught that wood should be used as it grew.
• Saddlers hand-stitch with two needles and waxed thread, so the seam holds even if one stitch breaks.
• Shokunin describes an artisan devoted to one craft for life. Masters treat the material as a teacher: work with its tendencies, waste little.

How to tell quality

When a material shows every difference in skill, the gap between beginner and master is visible, so there is always further to go.

Care and repair

All three can and should be maintained and repaired rather than replaced; the care becomes a ritual.

• Paper: keep it out of direct sun and damp. Conservators mend tears with Japanese tissue and wheat-starch paste, which is fully reversible. Worn books can be rebound.
• Wood: oil or wax occasionally, never soak it, and sand out scratches.
• Leather: condition sparingly, keep it away from direct heat, and restitch seams instead of replacing the item.

Design that combines them

When these materials meet in good design, each one's qualities come through.

• Hans Wegner's Wishbone chair: a solid wood frame with a seat woven from paper cord.
• Isamu Noguchi's Akari lamps: washi over a bamboo frame.
• Leather notebook covers: a material that ages in my hands wrapped around one that takes my marks.
• Bookbinding: paper pages, leather covers and, in older traditions, wooden boards.

What to explore next

Bookbinding is the most natural next step: it combines all three and builds on folding.

Projects to try

• Paper: make sheets from scraps, try marbling, or calligraphy on different papers
• Origami in washi
• Wood: carve a spoon, oil a small board and watch it change, or char a small yakisugi piece
• Leather: a card holder or notebook cover, burnishing the edges myself
• Visit a paper mill, tannery, joinery or bookbinding workshop

Books

Related materials: linen and wool, cork, bamboo, unglazed ceramics, brass and copper (patina), beeswax, and kintsugi repairs.