Painting on silk

The traditional way of painting on silk is by painting the images on stretched silk using a tjanting, which resembles a hollow pen filled with hot wax. This acts as a resist, so that the areas painted in wax will not absorb the ink. Different layers of colour can be built up this way. When you have finished, iron out the wax by putting the fabric flat between sheets of brown paper to absorb the wax. Tie and dye is another method used. Tie the silk tightly with string in random areas then dip it in dye and leave to dry. Once dry, unwind the string and iron the fabric to fix the ink then wash carefully.

I prefer to use a different method. I use white habotai silk, washed and dried then stretched over a wooden frame and stapled down so that the surface is tight. I then paint the surface of the silk with a product called Jacquard ‘No Flow’ and leave it to dry. This stops the ink from spreading, and you can paint detailed images on the silk. If you are painting images on silk that is to be worn, then you wll have to use special inks for silk, but I use Dr. Martin’s concentrated water colours as my designs don’t have to be fixed. I draw out my painting on paper while I can trace the design off, or with a soft pencil directly on the silk.

Paintings on silk

I paint images on silk then scan them, and drop them on the different background and textures using Photoshop.

These images were all painted on silk and used in dress print designs.