The Continuing Process

Darker blue waters are added

Now I am getting really excited about this painting.  The colors are holding their own.  The next few photos are showing the build-up of color, moving towards the final result

Dying Steps, part 2

Dying # 4, adding more color

After these first two rounds of dying and painting are completed, I go on and add more color, working from light to dark, trying to bring out as many details as I can. the painting begins to take shape

Version three of the dying process

Second step: Waxing and dying part one

I now can get started with my dying process. This painting is very complex, due to the number of color combinations and waxings that must be done in order to accomplish getting the information in front of me to look like what I have envisioned. I start by painting on all of the white areas with hot wax. This time around, pure white is few and far between, so after I do the initial waxing I paint on the next few colors: yellow for the floating debris, and a pale rose pink for the basic flesh. tone While the painting is still wet, I decide that it is too intense, so I paint a layer of ecru dye over the pink over the wet fabric, to more carefully match the color I am looking for. This gets waxed, and I keep on going…

"Warren's World" in the early stages

“Warren’s World” Painting with the first few dye baths started

What I did on my summer vacation

I know  that asking what you were doing while on vacation is a common question, but this time, I decided to try to show one tiny part of it in a new painting series I’m christening “The Water Series”.  While snorkeling with at Sandy Cay in the Bahamas, a photograph  I took of my husband snorkeling opened up a whole slew of new ideas on how to create the moment in Batik.  I would like to show how over the next few writings I created a new wall hanging that is still in process.  The first photo I am showing is the cool picture I took of Gill in the water snorkeling.  I liked the reptilian patterning on his arm and the way the light reflected on the surface of the bright turquoise water.  I took the photograph that I liked so much, and converted it into a line drawing in Photoshop.  I then blew up the black and white image to the size I wanted to create the painting, and proceeded to draw it on to a large piece of beautiful white upholstery grade silk that I had acquired  last year.  (Oh thank heaven for yard sales).  Then I began my wax and dying process.

 

The photo that started a new series

 

 

The base layer for the new batik