"camisa de albanene"

Question

My drawing teacher wrote this on the board as part of the instructions for an art project:

Presentación: montado sobre base rigida con camisa de albanene

It's just the last part I have a problem with. What is a camisa de albanene? I can't find "albanene" in the dictionary.

Plea, let us kow,when you find out? I'm curious. - Silvia, Aug 23, 2010

Answer 1

Ah! We kept thinking camisa meant shirt. In this case it means a paper cover (or vellum). The DRAE has a lot of definitions for camisa, many of which just mean a protective cover. A book's dust jacket is called a camisa.

That makes sense! Thanks much. (And my prof wrote up similar instructions for our next project, this time just using "camisa" instead of the full phrase.) So: "camisa de albanene" = vellum cover. - Soninmyeyes, Aug 25, 2010

And vellum can be either a young animal's skin used for writing, or, more commonly today, a sheer paper. (Image here: http://media.photobucket.com/image/vellum/xeikon/Vellum/Vellum.jpg) - Soninmyeyes, Aug 25, 2010

Back in prehistoric times we used to do schematics on vellum with a pencil and templates. It's just thin, translucent drawing paper that erases very easily and "blueprints" well. - KevinB, Aug 25, 2010

Answer 2

I didn't find camisa de albanene either, and albanene isn't in el DRAE, but I did find someone asking what papel albanene was on a forum, and this person was informed by someone else that it was vellum paper. I don't know what a vellum shirt would be, but I hope this is a start. I did Google the phrase in English and found that vellum can be used in screening. I don't know if that will be relevant to your project, though.

Hmm... I'm not sure about vellum... it's just a basic drawing assignment, and what I posted was just how we're supposed to display it, not the actual project itself... I'll ask and get back to you, in case you're curious. Thanks for looking! - Soninmyeyes, Aug 23, 2010

Okay, sorry it didn't work out. It didn't sound quite right. I am curious, now, though, so do let me know, please. Thanks. - MacFadden, Aug 23, 2010

Answer 3

Well, I just got back from class... And I'm still not entirely sure what a "camisa de albanene" is (though I did google it, and all 26 hits were art-related, but unfortunately none of them said what it is), but what my professor wants is the picture set on a rigid board and covered with a sheer tracing paper-type protector. From context, I'm guessing that the latter is what he meant by "camisa de albanene".

Isn't it possible to ask your professor what the term means? - Sheily, Aug 23, 2010