Wax painting II
Created by Alena Isabella Grimmichová,
grimmich.cz
Wax resist dying (batik) was used to create the painted silk scarf and picture.
What will you need? Silk, dye for silk, flat and round brushes, beeswax, paraffin, a metal bowl and pan, packing paper, newspaper and an iron.
How to start: Prepare batik wax by combining equal parts of beeswax and paraffin. Heat this in a water bath to a temperature high enough so that when the wax is brushed onto the silk, it is translucent and can penetrate the fabric.
1 Dye the silk using brick-red silk dye. Using a brush dipped in wax, paint a floral pattern onto the fabric. Only paint the outlines of the leaves and stems for the flowers.
2 Turn the silk over and on the reverse side, filling in places where the dye did not penetrate through the fabric.
3 Colour the flowers shades of yellow, orange and red.
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5 Paint the areas around the flowers using a dark-blue silk dye.
6 Once the dye is bone dry, use a flat brush to cover the entire surface of the painting with wax.
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Allow the wax to harden and carefully break the wax on the fabric.
8 Take care that it does not crumble off; if it does, wax has to be reapplied to that area.
9 Using dark-blue dye mixed with a little washing-up liquid or other detergent that cuts through grease, brush the dye into the crevices left by the broken wax. Swirl the brush in all directions. Blot up any excess dye by placing the fabric between packing paper. Allow the scarf to dry well.
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Place the fabric between sheets of white packing paper and put 2-3 layers of newspaper on either side. Place an old sheet on the ironing board and the newspaper-wrapped scarf on top of this. Using an iron set to medium heat, iron the scarf to remove the wax. As soon as the paper becomes oily from the wax, exchange it for clean paper. Repeat until the wax has been completely removed. To finish, gently wash the scarf (it will be soiled from newsprint ink) and iron.
If you are painting a floral pattern onto a scarf, create flowers on two sides and connect the stems. It would also be possible to draw flowers along the borders of all four sides and have the stems intertwine in the middle.
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