Painting Fabric
Every once in a while I feel the need to make a piece with a sunset or sunrise. Over the years I’ve tried printing some of my sky photos on fabric using Bubble Jet Set, which is a truly wonderful product, and the results were good.
However, I have come to love hand painting my background fabrics. Sure, it takes longer, but there is something extremely satisfying about starting with plain white cloth and watching color and form almost magically appear before me. It’s all about the process.
Last week I created two fabrics, one each for a sunset and a sunrise. They will be used in the same piece, although a bit away from each other. Therefore, I used the same basic colors in each, but varied the layout and the intensity, as sunsets tend to be deeper and have somewhat richer colors here.
I use Pebeo’s Setacolor paints for this kind of application. I love the transparency as I brush on layer after layer, achieving a far richer result than I could get with opaque paints. It is much closer to what I see when I look at an actual sunrise or sunset. I also love the physical lightness of these paints. They barely change the hand of the cloth at all.
The photo above is the sunrise. I’ll post a photo of the whole piece when it’s completed.
Mar 10, 2009 @ 11:18:33
Hi neighbor! Thank you for showcasing this artform on your blog–it looks like a beautiful way to capture our stunning sunrises and sunsets. I’ve been here 20 years, and still find our Big Sky breathtaking.