A TECHNIQUE DRIVEN Blog dedicated to mastery of surface design techniques. First we dye, overdye, paint, stitch, resist, tie, fold, silk screen, stamp, thermofax, batik, bejewel, stretch, shrink, sprinkle, Smooch, fuse, slice, dice, AND then we set it on fire using a variety of heat tools.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Lesson 1 - don´t use too much water

Ok, my turn, I saw a landscape with tree in a painting-for-dummies book (see right), and managed to mix exact the right colours with just yellow/turquoise/red procion powder. Yeah, so far so good.


Set up the table, and felt like a real artist, painting my landscape:


Happy with the final result:

Ready to add a tree by machine, but wait a minute, I had to rinse and wish it first:


Oooph, that´s not exactly what I hoped for, although there is a misty sun glaring at the horizon ;-).
Lesson learned, I mixed the original thickened procion paint with too much water to work like an aquarel.
Better not do that. Just use the original paint, and you will not loose the colourdeepness.
Fortunately, I did some printing with the remains, so I can prove that pure thickened procion can stand the rinsing/washing if used properly;-):
 



Have to retry this, it is big fun to do!

5 comments:

  1. Great landscape, Neinke! Keeping the mixture thick enough is important in keeping the color intense, but it sure is tempting to use them like paint, especially watercolor. In the photo, there are 2 landscapes...how did the other one turn out? Did you batch the painting overnight in a warm place before rinsing out?

    Love the printing that you're doing with the remaining dyes. ;-)

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  2. Can't wait to see your re-done landscape. Maybe just go over what you have already done and I LOVE your prints. They are fabulous!!!!!

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  3. Nienke, I have found that mixing the colors darker than you think you'll need gives better results after you wash out. And I have also found that I need to be sure to cover and batch at least 24 hours, or all my hard work fades when I wash out the piece. But I think you are on the right track, and hope you try again! Meanwhile, your prints are great too!

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  4. I would really like to meet with other Maine fiber artists. Does anyone live near Brunswick, Maine?

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  5. Nienke, I love the colors you're using here. I also found that you have to mix the color darker than you would think -- I don't know if it's because the print paste keeps it from bonding with the fabric as well or if it's because the color is deceiving when mixed with the print paste.

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