I had to get both the silk paints and Resist for painting on silk! This stencil of a rose has been in a drawer for years and finally used it! This used the Serti technique which requires clearly defined areas for the paint. Serti means “closed fence”.
The silk habotai I found online was too big. I needed a quarter of the piece. I figured having the extra pieces will be useful if my first attempt doesn’t go well.
After tracing the rose, I applied the Resist and let it dry. I forgot to wash it off but otherwise, I did fine with the second painting exercise. There is a lot of paint left over because a few drops of paint just absorbed to the lines of Resist.
I have to use interfacing behind the silk because the silk is so thin. Laura gave me ideas for stitching this one too.
Laura Smith was kind enough to offer an extention on her EGA class, Draw and Paint.
I thought too much white (“snow”) came through on the canvas for my fish tank but I sent her a photo and she says it’s good after cleaning up around the edges of the fish. The rest is shading and will be covered by stitching.
This design is one I did years ago in the shape of a fishbowl on white plastic canvas. The plastic canvas made finishing easier because you could cut up to the edge without worrying about fraying. Yes, that’s a frog pin attached to the canvas which I’ve had since I was a child – his legs move!
It’s a design that I wanted to try again and to make it a little larger now that I am more experienced. This is also different from the first because I painted the canvas. Since I painted the water blue, I decided to change the blue fish to an orange one.
Laura said “Your painting is beautifully nuanced, yet not overcomplicated.” And, that the consistency of the paint mixture was good, no filled holes, and the color choices were excellent. Laura provided stitching ideas that are general. She suggested a few different things that I’ll have to think about.
I tried using the brushes I had but finally emailed her for suggestions on specific sizes and styles of brushes. I got a small set of Hogs Hair flat and round brushes and tested them out on this small scrap. I changed from light blue to dark blue as I moved downward. I love how my practice sky turned out.
I also reinforced that painted canvases are expensive for a reason – it’s not easy or a quick process.
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