Open Studio Holiday Sale!

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Silk Painting Demo - Part 2

Silk painting is similar to watercolor in it's basic techniques, i.e. washes and wet into wet. In this piece (which will be a tallis - Jewish prayer shawl) I'm going to use washes that change in color or intensity. I've painted the sun starting in it's middle with yellow, and as I've gone to the outer edge I've changed to orange-gold. The colors continue to blend with each other long after I've moved on to another section.






For the olive green color, I'm starting with a small brush because I have to work around the Hebrew lettering that borders the sun. The gutta I've put on the letters will keep the olive color out, but I need to be careful not to flood the area as that would send color over the gutta instead of just up to it.

I've lined up various values of my olive green colors in these cups, and will gradually change from on to the other as I paint the large field of color. Keep the paint nice and juicy, and overlap your strokes for the smoothest transition possible. Don't answer the phone - you gotta keep it going until you've finished the entire shape.

Silk Painting Demo, Part 1

I've gotten some questions about how to paint on silk. So, if you're interested, here's the first installment of a silk painting demo! If not, I won't be insulted if you skip this post. Please check back soon for new artwork to be posted.

You start with white silk and some kind of stretcher system. My favorite fabric is silk charmeuse, very luxurious with a good shine and weight. I'm using Chinese hooks, rubber bands and 3/4" PVC pipes and joints for my stretcher system. It's relatively cheap, and I can easily change the lengths and widths of the pipes to accommodate any size I wish to paint. Also, the rubber bands pick up any slack as the silk absorbs water and stretches, so the silk never sags. I buy my silk supplies from Dharma Trading Co.

In this example I'm going to color all my line work. Not only does it jazz up the painting, but this allows me to see the lines after applying gutta (next paragraph) which are almost invisible when dry.

Using a plastic bottle applicator with a fine metal tip, over my colored lines, I apply Gutta (silk painting's equivalent to watercolor's frisket - more essential, though, because without it silk dyes can spread unchecked on wet or dry fabric). I use water-soluble gutta, a greener alternative to the traditional rubber based, and really quite as good.

Here you can see the purple drawing (the purple is a "vanishing marker" whose lines disappear over time or when covered with water), one piece of drawing that has been colored with yellow silk dye using a fine brush, and one shape that has also received the gutta (still wet). the gutta darkens the silk and is shiny until it dries - then you can hardly see it.

Lone Pomegranate

I've met a group of friendly painters at "Watercolors Wet n Wild," a juried group of watercolor artists. Lee, one of the artists, sent me some Lana paper after hearing I'd never tried it. Here's to Lee - my first experience with this new paper - which I like! This is on hot pressed 140# Lana, 5 x 7

Pomegranates in a Row

Watercolor, 11 x 15
Thank you Doug for the inspiration. Doug grew these in his orchard and has graciously shared them with me!















Detail 1, Pomegranates in a Row











Detail 2, Pomegranates in a Row

Black Spirals

Black Spirals Tallit, Silk, 22 x 70

One of my newer creations for my inventory (read: this is not a commission, it's available! As is the Tree of Life - Magma Tallit posted a couple of weeks ago)

Gordon Apples II

Watercolor, 16 x 16
Number two in a series of fall fruits. Done on Kilimanjaro Paper, whereas last apples were done on either Strathmore or Canson. I enjoy the square format.

A Watercolor (or an Apple) a Day...

Gordon Apples, 8 x 11, Watercolor

Picked from our own tree. Serving dual purposes - painting and pie!