I have a post from a couple of years ago regarding sun painting with Pebeo Set a Color Paints on cotton panels. Since I'm teaching a Sun Painting on silk class in July at the Yadkin Arts Center, I figured I'd better hone the skills. I found some pre-dyed silk chiffon scarves that I was going to use for Nuno Felting. I ironed it out then ironed it onto freezer paper to act as a stabilizer.
I also had some thin insulation I used for batik a few years ago so I could pin the scarf and the leaves down. I decided to try Sweet Gum leaves to start with.
I used Brown Set a Color fabric paint that had been mixed 1 part paint to 2 parts Water.
Then I started to apply the paint to the scarf. I used brown only because it was the strongest color I had that could cover the oranges and reds in my scarf.
I used gloves and I really have to recommend them, this paint does not come off your hands very easily.
After I applied the brown paint to the surface of the scarf, I then added the leaves and put small pins in them to help keep them stable.
I used longer pins as well but tried to keep them angled more on the leaf to prevent a shadow from the sunlight.
Once everything was pinned down...
I set the scarf out on the drive way to bask in the rays of sun.
Monte got into the fun of it as well. He is a great studio pooch!
I had to run some errands so I left this out in the sun for 2 hours and....
I can see how real leaves curl up in the sun, however we can see the design left.
Here is the wrong side of the scarf, which looks really cool!
And below is the side of the scarf that the paint is on.
It's a fun technique and for the first time on silk chiffon I'm impressed with the results. I have a couple of other scarves I'm going to play with. I defiantly LOVE the effect of the pre-dyed scarfs and then using the paints to contrast the original color. I do recommend that you base the scarf with a light color and not a strong one line red and orange!
