Painting Scarf >>> Part One

 

First, I ironed the fabric smoothing out the big creases.

 

 

Then, I dunked the fabric in water. Doing this allows the dye to spread when applied giving a watercolor effect. Ooooh!!! I wonder what would happen if I added salt. I'll have to experiment. Next, I stretched the fabric on the stretcher my husband built a few winters back.

 

 

Now, I was out of dye resist and really didn't want to drive 30 miles to get some, so I improvised. I used good ole' Elmer's glue to add stylized trees that were sketched in my "well" this summer. I have used glue as a resist with my students before... why wouldn't it work now.

 

 

I let the glue dry completely, with a little help from my hair dryer. Once it was dry I had to spray the fabric down with water, again, being careful not to saturate the glue. Finally, I painted the scarf with sponges carefully mixing the blues, yellows, and greens. I wanted to make sure the colors were spread evenly and that the colors weren't just all mixed together.

 

 

Stay tuned for part two >>> I plan to layer more imagery and colors.