The Silk Painting Process

Hello again. This is my silk painting corner where you can view and comment on all of my projects. I decided to start with the silk painting process to enhance your understanding of how laborious and time consuming this medium is. This art form takes a lot of patience and understanding that nothing is set in silk until the work is steamed and ironed without flaw. Silk painting is a Zen art form as you are a slave to the dyes and how the react with the silk. All work needs to be complete on a flat surface or the dyes might run and bounce around the silk.

Step1- Wash your silk.
All of the silk scarves that you will purchase are supposed to be clean and ready for painting. However, to be extra cautious I have found it wise to wash all of the silk before hand and let dry. This will give you a chance to inspect the merchandise for flaws and identify any inperfections in the silk. Wash in luke warm water with "TNA" Soap and then let hang to dry.

Step 2-Stretch your silk.
I have seen some artists use metal frames, however I find that wood is light and easier to work with. Attach your silk to the frame with 3M Scotch tape (you can use cheaper stuff but it will not hold as well) and pins. I have found that keeping a thimble on hand is good to save your fingers.

Step 3- Resist your image.
Place your image under the silk frame and using a waterbased wax resist apply trace the image onto the silk. Keep Kleenex and cue tips on hand to help correct and mistakes that might happen. Let all of the resist dry before you paint. After the resist has set, you now have 3 days to paint the scarf or the wax will start to spread and it will hinder the silk's absorbency.

Step 4-Paint your scarf.
This is the most crucial and time consuming part of the whole project. The dyes are sensitive to water before steaming and any water dropped onto the painted portions of the scarf will show and bleed. I have found it very useful to keep a bottle of resist on hand in case I did not close off any lines properly during the resisting stage.

Step 5- Wrap and Steam.
This is the second stage in the process where things can go very wrong and ruin all of your hard work. After the silk is done painted and has dried- take the silk off the stretcher and place on a piece of clean news print and cover with white tissue paper. The tissue paper is to prevent silk on silk contact during steaming, If the silk contacts itself the dyes will bleed on each other. Roll the silk up and fold, then suspend from a cross bar and place a pot. Use a canner pot and place a felt circle at the bottom and a square over the top. This will create a convexion steaming process that will fix the pigment to the silk.

Step 6-Wash and Iron.
Remove the silk from the pot after 45mins of steaming on stove top setting #4. Wash the silk using "TNA" soap until there is no more dye that bleeds from the painting. Ensure to constantly take fresh water to prevent any dying of the white parts of the scarf. After the silk is washed it is time to iron. Begin by placing silk on a towel and roll it up padding it dry. After, using a white bed sheet over and under the painting, carefully iron it. Make sure that there are no creases and the sheet is always dry. If the sheet is not dry the heat from the iron may boil the water under the scarf. Thus, creating a stain permenently set in the scarf.

Step 7- Now you are done.
Just remember not to fold it.