Silk paint in progress, part 2

Here's the beginning of the painting part. If you'll notice, the resist lines prevent paint from flowing where I don't want it to go whereas the magic sizing just gives me more control over how the paint flows in the silk. More as the painting progresses. 

This is a new silk in process. I thought I'd share my particular process for paining silk. First I make a line drawing with sharpie marker or other dark, non smearing marker pen. I spread the silk over the drawing, pinning the silk to the drawing in several places. Next I trace the line drawing with a water soluble pencil. Then I remove the silk from the drawing and stretch the silk on a PVC pipe frams and Chinese suspension hooks that look like claws. Next I choose to either spray the silk with Magic Sizing all over or draw along the pencil lines with a water based resist, sometimes, like on this one. I do both. The yellow lines are the resist, I add a bit of color to is so I can see it, although you may use it plain which leaves tiny white lines once it's washed out after heat setting the silk paints.It all depends on the drawing, how I want to paint it & the amount of the detail to be preserved on the silk painting. Once this all dries, it doesn't take very long, less than 30 minutes total, I begin to paint. The photos below show the process up to actually painting. That comes later.

 

The Magic of Magic Sizing

On previous post I mentioned spraying silk with magic sizing as a stop flow agent on the silk. I have recently learned that magic sizing can be used to manipulate silk paint colors on silk. How it's done is simple. Take a plastic container of some sorts it's a lid, spray the sizing into that container. It will bubble & foam, but continue to spray until it accumulates. Let it sit, lid off, for a while, 30 minutes at least, preferably overnight. You can brush this liquid onto the silk which acts as a stronger stop flow resist, a wetting agent, which allows you to manipulate the paints because the sizing doesn't allow the paint to immediately soak into the silk, thus keeping the silk wet longer. I use this to soften the edges when I have shading to do or when I have a large area to cover with the paint. It's much easier than trying to brush out the hard edges that form when the paint soaks into the silk quickly. You can use this method to create textures like tree bark , grass, and I such. I usually spray a 4 oz. deli container at least half full, let it sit, then put on the lid. I have plenty to use as needed. The sizing usually dries within an hour so you don't have to wait a long time between painting sessions. Again this method is not mine exclusively, silk artist Karen Sistek created it, I'm just passing it along as I learn more about using this substance in silk painting.

The. Natural World quilt

This project I call the natural world because each block contains an element found in nature. It's hand painted silk panels with cotton sashing. Has yet to add an outer border, to be quilted & finished. It will be on display & for sale at my solo show in April.
The Cheshire Cat, second photo, is complete. Hand painted silk with cotton borders. It is a challenge for my quilt guild, the fairy tale challenge, I chose Alice In wonderland as the fairy tale. It will also be displayed/for sale in the April show.
BTE, these IPad photos don't do the pieces justice. They are much brighter in person.

Dyes v Paint in the Silk World

The first two photos are of paint, both are thin consistency and are acrylic based, however, each is different in than the first photo contains paints suitable for silk. The second photo is a high flow acrylic similar to water color and is Not suitable for silk. It contains a higher ratio of polymer, thus rendering a much stiffer feel to that of the silk paint. Silk paints need to be heat set for permanency, the high flow acrylic is suited for other types of art and is much more expensive than silk paints.
The third photo are dyes, these are Jacquard green label dyes that can be set by either painting on or submersing in a solution of dye set, also of the same brand. They can also be steam set. If you'll notice I said green label can be set via the Dyeset solution. To the best of my knowledge these dyes are the only ones that can be set this way, all others, including Jacquards red label Must be steam set and that is another process to be covered at another time, follow the directions for each brand of dyes as to their particular technique for setting.
Another difference between silk paints and silk dyes is that the dyes actually become part of the silk fabric, leaving it with a soft feel ( or hand) while the paint sits on the surface of the silk and leaves it with a slightly stiffer feel. You can tell the difference if you fee both at the same time.
Both dyes and paints can be painted on with the same type of brush, although I wouldn't use the same brushes for dyes that I'd use for paints. This has to do with the fact that paints are polymer based. Dyes can be reconstituted with water if they dry out in the bottle or palate, paints cannot, once they are dry, they are there, not to be moved without scrubbing. Both give lustrous color, both can be mixed to make new colors. What do I prefer? Paints, simply for their ease of handling. And paints can also be used on paper, if you desire. It's similar to liquid watercolor.
Pick your poison for adding color to silks, dyes or paints, it's your choice. Good luck.

Cold Wax, what is it, how it's used.

This is cold wax. It's cold because it's not solid at room temperature like regular wax is, therefore it does not need to be heated to be used. It's the consistency of milk but it can be brushed on plain silk as a mask to preserve white areas or painted on the lines to separate areas of color. But, it has another use. In traditional batik wax is applied over areas of color to preserve the color when successive layers of color ( usually other colors) are applied. Cold wax can be used for this. Let the base color dry thoroughly, paint the cold wax over the areas you want to preserve, let it dry completely, then paint the other color or colors. This wax can be applied in many layers over many colors, as it is in batik. Once you have all the colors applied & dry, simply heat set the silk, between layers of newsprint or old newspaper ( at least 3 weeks old so the ink won't transfer). The wax will melt out of the silk & be absorbed by the newsprint. You need to do this even if you use the cold wax with dyes to get the wax out. Depending on the number if layers of wax used, you may have to repeat the ironing process several times to get all the wax out. The silk should not be stiff once the wax is out. If you use silk paints, you're done, the ironing process to remove the wax also heat sets the paint. If you're using dyes, after the wax is completly removed, set the dyes with your method of choice, usually steaming. The whites of this piece (last photo) were preserved by painting on cold wax prior to painting. At first, when I began using cold wax, I expected it to be much thicker. I was confused by it's thin consistency but as I use it more & mores, I learned to use it as a masking agent instead if a resist in the traditional sense. Keep this in mind when you start to use it. It's thin enough to run until it dries, which takes about 20 minutes or so, and it repels color once dry. It's great used as a masking agent, similar to what one would do with watercolor, but it's tricky to use as a traditional resist to separate areas if color in the serti technique. I hope this helps clear the confusion about cold wax.

Spillage

No pictures this time folks, sorry. This will be short too. I tend to paint directly out of the bottle unless I'm mixing colors. Yesterday I had a brand new, full bottle of black silk paint fall over & spill- everywhere. Fortunately the paint is water soluble so it cleaned up fairly easy but not totally. There is now a gray stain on the painting le