Inktense on Silk, the test

Recently I read that Intkense pencils and blocks, made by Dèrwent, make great silk paintings. I decided to see for myself. These pencils and blocks are actually water soluble ink instead of true watercolors. They are very bright and intense color wise when water is added to them. 

After praying the silk by stretching it on a frame, then adding resist lines, I began. I found the Inketense must be used wet on silk, either by wetting the silk first and applying the color or wetting the color and applying it to the silk. They simply do not work dry on dry. Also, the colors need to sit for 24 hours, then should be heat set. I did this, then rinsed out the resist lines the next day to find that, once the silk painting dried, the color faded some and it was not as intense as before the rinsing. After it dried, I pressed it and all was well. I compared the Inktense on silk and on paper. The final results are below. The piece on paper is on the left, the one on silk is on the right.  The second photo is of the pieces before rinsing out the resist. You can see how bright the colors are on the silk piece ( lower right) prior to rinsing.

Consensus- while Derwent Inktense are good on paper, I don't think, except for small details, I'd use them on silk. I definitely wouldn't use them on silk wearables, just on wall art. 

New blog Post

I made a new blog post on http://stichesandstrokes.blogspot.com/2015/06/test-run-fluid-acrylic-paints.html Please feel free to check it out.

The Interview

Recently an interview I  did a few months ago was published in http://creativeroom4talk.com/cathy-sparks/. It's a real honor to think they thought my work worthy of publication. Check it out. There we also many other quality pieces there as well.

Between Paper and Silk

There is a distinct difference in paintings done on watercolor paper and one done on silk, even though they use the same type of paint, in this case watercolors from the tube. Paper, being a harder surface than silk, is more reflective of the light resulting in brighter colors on the surface. The first photo is on paper and shows this. The second photo is of a painting done with the same watercolors as the one on paper but is on silk instead. Notice how the colors are much deeper, resembling an oil painting.mi think this is because the silk absorbs the light instead of reflecting it the way paper does. The difference in the way the paint behaves on the two surfaces is what, I believe, gives each it's unique look. By the way, both should be framed under glass to protect the surface.

 I discovered painting with watercolors on silk is an ancient technique used by the Chinese before other types of paints or dyes were developed. The Chinese used both watercolors and inks on silk for their paintings. Now, I'm not Chinese in any form and not as ancient as the technique of watercolor on silk ( I am growing older as we all are) but I just tried painting on silk habotai with regular tube watercolors to see what it looked like, I like the result. I did find the watercolors are brighter in tone than silk paints, yet the same obstacles remain by suing silk over paper, I.e. Neither paint can be lifted with any success from the silk, once a mark is made with the brush on the silk, it's there and can't be manipulated the way one would with paint on paper. So you have to carefully plan the painting.

 Also, on silk with watercolor, you can't use a water soluble resist because ipthe color will wash out with the resist. For whites in a silk painting I recommend using a cold wax that can be painted on with a brush or using white opaque paint of some type, gouache is good. Anyway, the experiment ends on painting watercolors on silk. Consensus is that it looks good but it's NOT recommended for garments or silk that will be turned into a garment, including scarves, watercolors on silk should be only used on paintings that will be used as fine art, to be hung on the wall, framed and under glass. Use either dyes or silk paints on anything to be used as a garment. 

I hope this info helps you, the painter, in some way.

The Judicius Use of Black in Painting

Black is not actually a color, but it the absence of any color. However "black" is color used in painting as a dark tone. It can indicate darkened

or shaded areas of the painting. It can be the actual color of an object, for example a black cat or a black umbrella. Black can be cool, warm or neutral

in tone. Many artists prefer to mix their own black from a dark blue  plus dark brown, Prussian blue and burnt umber are popular colors used to make black.

the most common black paint in the art world is lamp black which comes in a tube, jar or pan, depending on the medium the artist is using.

There are several ways to successfully add black to a painting. Layering is one of the best ways to "build" a black or dark area of a

painting. Paint in washes or glazes first, then add glazes of color, alternating with the black for the first few layers, finishing with the

color of the object.  Another method of adding black to shaded areas is to add thin lines of black against the edge of the underlying object,

then dilute the lines to gradually fade it out to nothing. This is shown in the photo below, on the left with the leaves.

Keep in mind that there is a thing such as too much black. It can turn a painting into a disaster. Less is more  when using black. Black is a staining color

which cannot be completely lifted to reveal the original color. Many times it must painted over, with many coats, to return the original color.

The best way to determine the placement of black tones in a painting is to really study the subject for light and dark areas and plan

 the painting around that. Many artists make sketches showing light and dark areas before beginning to paint. Planning a painting this

way will help adding the dark and light areas to appear naturally in the finished painting.

water color on silk and paper

This is the experiment piece the first is watercolor on silk, the second is watercolor on paper, using the same image for both. If I decide to frame either piece, they will have to be under glass, the silk will have to be mounted on a board first, my preference is the silk piece for its depth of color, it just looks richer. The silk I use is habotai or China silk which is a very smooth surface to paint on. I also sprayed it first with magic sizing to help control the absorbancy of the color. The magic sizing allows more time for manipulation of the paint in the surface before it sinks into the silk. 

My consensus is that watercolor paint on silk grounds works well. I've learned that this method is actually an ancient chinese technique, watercolor or silk, since silk was available before paper was. At any rate this experiment blends two on my favorite mediums, water color painting and silk painting. I'll do it again, use watercolor paints on silk, that is. :)

Is it Watercolor or Is It Silk?

There are many similarities between watercolor painting and silk painting. Both are done with thin consistency colors whether it be dyes or paints. Both can use blocking agents like gutta, resists, masking fluids, wax,etc. both should be painted with the surface flat to avoid the paint running where you don't want it to go  (unless you want it to run) or to preserve white areas or the painting

The main difference is the painting surface- to a point. If you've ever painted on rice paper or unsized paper like printmaking papers, you know, like silk, the paint soaks right in and can't be easily lifted. However, if you paint watercolors on regular watercolor paper you'll notice the surface is much harder than unsized paper therefore making it easier to manipulate the paint before it dries and even after it dries, the paint can be wet again and manipulated again to some extent.

Silk fabrics tend to be more like unsized rice paper  in that it is very absorbent and color, once applied is next to impossible to lift out without leaving a mark on the silk surface. Silk fabric can be sprayed with sizing to help prevent the color from soaking in so much, yet it still leaves a brush mark that results in a hard edged noticible spot on the silk. 

Another big difference is that silk fabric/painting can be made into garments, scarves, banners, and such while watercolor paper cannot, should not, be worn as clothing elements. I guess that's a given in the nature of silk fabric.  I guess it's possible to sew watercolor paper but I can't see it as being practical, maybe in a haute couture piece, but that's another post entirely.

Below are two examples on the same design, one on silk and the other on watercolor paper. On the silk, I used silk paints instead of dyes ( never had good luck steaming dyes) and the watercolor uses regular watercolor paints. I'm currently experimenting with watercolor paint on silk. We'll see how that goes.  Perhaps the two can be blended into an interesting effect. 

Anyway, these are just a few differences in using two mediums which yield a very similar effect.

The painting on the top. is silk, the one on the bottom is watercolor. The paints on the watercolor tend to sit on the surface giving a brighter color than that on the silk, which soaks up the color , giving it a softer,mulled tone, I've learned that watercolor & silk painting is very similar in technique, only with a few differences.