Silk Paintbrush: Paint on Silk! My new craze!

I just learned to how to do silk painting in my Surface Design class last week, I loved it! This is my first sample piece from last week. Its an abstract art piece of reds, yellows, and greens. I've also added a couple of artists that work with silk painting, and create beautiful clothing pieces as a result.

If you'd like to try silk painting, or just curious as to how it all works, here are some things you'll need and steps to do it:

Things you'll need: silk, silk stretcher, gutta or resist paste, dye or paints, paintbrushes, chemical fixative

Steps to paint on silk:
1) Once you have purchased and chosen the silk you want to paint on, you'll want to pre wash the silk item. Wash delicately or by hand and dry.

2) Create the design you'll paint, sketch the design on paper and transfer it to the silk. The easiest way to do this is by hanging the design on a window with the silk piece positioned over the design. Trace the design lightly onto the silk.

3) Stretch your silk by using a silk stretcher, or you can secure your silk by using stretching bars and push pins.

4) Trace your design with the gutta or resist paste. Gutta and resist are used as a barrier to keep dye away from that contained area.

5) Apply the dye to your silk piece with soft bristled brushes or foam tipped sponge brushes.

6) Let your silk painting dry, now you can set your color(s). When setting your color permanently into the silk, some of the best ways to do this is with steam or chemical fixative.

7) Remove the resist by hand washing in warm water, and hanging the silk to dry. To remove the gutta, you will need to dry clean your finished product.

Michelle Murphy is a silk painter and artist, she has been silk painting for over 20 years. You can find her scarves at indieshop.com. http://www.indieshop.com/vendors/michelle-murphy