Experimenting with Magic Sizing

22 Sunday Apr 2012

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It’s been fun using the Magic Sizing as a resist, and playing with  effects on the silk.  I love the way colors go on to the silk with the sizing on it- they stay very blocky, where brushed on, and will layer rather than immediately blend.

Blocky dye application visible on treated silk.

However, after trying this for a few paintings, I missed the blending effect of wet-on-wet on the uncoated silk.  So, of course I found myself wanting to combine both methods.

I started with putting in the basic structure of the painting on silk that had Magic Sizing on it.  It was great being able to block in areas that would get further work in a future steaming- this is not something I could do a lot with when depending on separating spaces with just a gutta line, unless I wanted to allow a lot of white lines.

Here some color defines shapes that will become river and rocks. I used Magic Sizing to coat the silk and then apply the dyes.  At this point, I steamed the silk to change the dye application method. Now I can use the gutta lines to allow wet-into- wet areas, for the river.  I applied the gutta, and then brushed on water, to prepare that area of silk for wet-on-wet application.After the next steaming, I applied Magic Sizing to put in some dark shapes for foliage.  It’s great fun to go back and forth between these methods.  However, I can see that I will want to streamline this in the future, as the time spent steaming this painting has started to add up!  This work is still in progress, several steamings later…

Working with Magic Sizing as a Resist

15 Sunday Apr 2012

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I’ve been playing with a new technique for about a month now…applying Magic Sizing to my silk and using it as a resist.  Thanks to Karen Sistek, who developed this technique,  and to Francine Dufour Jones for sharing information about this process.

Here’s some brief notes about the process I have tried:

I spray the stretched silk with sizing as a first step.  It doesn’t take much to coat the silk with a wet coat.

Sometimes the sizing puddles a bit.  Then I use a folded paper towel to spread it more evenly across the silk. 

At this point I let it dry.  It doesn’t take all that long to let it air dry.  However, I often get impatient!  So, I dry it with a hairdryer if I can’t wait for it to air dry!Now I can begin to add color.  This is where it gets exciting.  I can use a big sponge brush to add big blocks of color, or block in shapes for the composition I plan to use.  My previous experience with silk tells me that  with no sizing added, color will spread as far as possible before drying with a broken line on dry silk, or with a diffused cloud effect on wet silk.  However, with magic sizing as a resist, color will stay, with blocky edges and no diffusing.  This is very freeing!This is such a different effect than what I have previously learned; such new paths to learn now!  Here is the first painting I completed using this process.  Here it is in progress.  This new technique will take much effort to master, and I am just beginning with it.  I love it, and can’t wait to see how it will change my work.  At the beginning of this year I challenged myself to work more with incorporating drawing into my work, and also work with developing shapes and blocks of color, not just line.  This technique allows for exactly that.

Learning about using Magic Sizing as a Resist

11 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by in Connection, Production, Whole Cloth

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Thanks to some great internet information, I have begun to learn a new silk painting process.  I saw some information about it in several different sources, which took me along a path revealing details about this intruiging method.

Artist and silk painting master Karen Sistek has developed the method of using a spray starch as an anti- fusant.  Her work is amazing; such detail and control, paired with bold composition. Karen has unselfishly described her techniques and shares her knowledge freely.  I found two other sources describing this technique and both give credit to her.

Francine Dufour Jones has disseminated Karen’s discussion of this technique on her wonderful website dedicated to sharing tips for silk painters.  Francine’s wonderful site constantly educates and inspires me.  To read Francine’s post, look under the Magic Sizing category.

Finally, artist Husna Rafath  has created a You Tube Video demonstrating her method inspired by Sistek’s  method.  I really enjoyed this video- the music is beautiful, and I love the way Rafath put it together.  She also includes her own twist on the method-  that of mixing small amounts of dye directly into a small container with Magic Sizing.  She says this idea came to her as a way of preserving the Magic Sizing and being thrifty with it… I think her innovation is very creative.

I became interested in this method as I learned about it from these sources.  I have been doing my own experimenting, and will write about that soon.  I am very grateful to these three artists and silk painters who have so generously shared their knowledge.  .

Working from my Sketchbook

12 Monday Mar 2012

Posted by in Inspiration, Selvedge

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Recently I have come to appreciate the time spent in sketching for a variety of reasons.  I  mentioned in a previous post the creative energy I have found from doodling… something I had previously enjoyed but dismissed as having little value.  Now I can add another reason to love sketching- the creative generative power of one sketch to fuel multiple paintings.

I did this sketch several months ago, and felt at the time I had achieved some things I wanted to continue to work on in a painting.  Here is a silk painting created from this sketch:

Later I returned to the sketch, and continued to feel a burst of creative energy from it.   So here in the next painting; in it  I have used a new technique I am beginning to learn:  So there have been several finished paintings made based on the seed of the sketch.  I have found this a very satisfying way to work.  The medium of silk painting is so immediate, it can be restricting.  But working with the sketch, I have been able to explore some additional possibilities.

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