What is silk painting?
By Diane Tuckman and Jan Janas
Co-authors of The Complete Book of Silk Painting, Creative Silk Painting & The Best of Silk Painting
Silk painting is a direct paint-on method. Dyes are applied to silk fabrics using an exciting array of watercolor techniques. The brilliant translucent liquid colors merge to become an integral part of the fabric, which always remains soft to the touch. Silk painting is not static. Movement and fluidity are the hallmark of this art form. As the hand of the artist delicately guides the flow of the liquid, the colors glide through the silk and generate delight and excitement.
Historically, fabric painting was and continues to be very popular in the Far East: Kimono art in Japan, delicate Chinese paintings on silk and beautiful intricate batiks from Indonesia. Silk painting as we know it today, was popularized by a French artist, Litza Bain. Bringing together the techniques
first used by French milliners and silk flower makers as well as Russian artists who emigrated to France in the early part of the century, she combined these elements and developed a system for silk painting. She started to teach the art form in the early 1960s. Since then, silk painting has risen in popularity as artists the world over have found this a uniquely attractive method of decorating fabrics.
Silk painting is creating ART on fabric with silk as the canvas. Silk paintings can be designed as Art to hang, functional, such as wearable art or for home décor. Quilters, sewers, interior and fashion designers have found hand painted silks very useful for their purposes.
SO YOU WANT TO SILK PAINT!
Anyone can do it! It can be as easy as scattering a few beautiful colors across the silk or as challenging as multi-layers of colors to create very complex designs. Most silk painters will attest to the idea that silk painting is a sensuous experience. They say that when they start to paint they become one with the process, their creativity is unleashed and the more they experiment the more they discover that there are no limits to ideas and possibilities. If you start silk painting without preconceptions, you will be rewarded with "happy accidents" of the highest order.
Following is a brief description of the traditional methodology involved in practicing this art form:
- The suitable fabric when silk painting with the traditional dyes is 100% SILK.
- The traditional silk painting dyes have special characteristics. They move easily and saturate the fabric. Once set, they become very brilliant and bond to the silk which is then washable and dry-cleanable.
- Some of the techniques are: resist, shading, blending, gradation, watercolor, hard edge, salting and spotting with water or alcohol.
Do not be intimidated by the need for designs. In the beginning, you can easily trace pleasing designs from various copyright free sources. To personalize them, you can use any and all techniques. - To begin silk painting, the fabric is stretched on a frame and the design is resisted (if this is the technique of choice). After it is painted, the silk is allowed to dry and then steam set to permanently bond the dyes to the fibers.
- The fabric is then rinsed, ironed and ready to be used as intended.
AND THERE YOU HAVE IT:
AN UNBEATABLE COMBINATION OF ART, BEAUTY AND FUNCTIONALITY.
If you wish to learn more about silk painting contact:
Diane Tuckman
SPIN (Silk Painters International)
6806 Trexler Rd.
Lanham, MD 20706
USA
Tel: 301-474-7347
Fax: 301-441-2395
e-mail: SPIN@silkpainters.org
SPIN website www.silkpainters.org