Hand stamped, hand painted fabric
This piece, about 36" x 48" is the first of a series I have planned. I've been working with paper since Christmas, but am cleaning up my studio today, organizing storage for the paper process and getting set up for working with fabric. I've got to make more room around my sewing machine and on my big work tables.
Liz asked what I was using for paint with the stamps. When working with paper, I have been using acrylic craft paint - the cheap kind in a little 2 oz or 59 ml bottle. This is wonderfully opaque over papers like newsprint, etc. It also adds texture, durability, and strength to the paper. I use foam brushes to apply the paint to my stamps. I use a foam roller for screen printing on paper. To get transparent color on paper, I have been using MX dye.
With the fabric, I use Setacolor fabric paints by Pebeo. I have these in both opaque and transparent and intermix them according to my whim. I've tried various Jacquard products, but I find their odor bothers me, so I stick with the Setacolor. I apply the Setacolor to my stamps with foam brushes, but when screen printing on fabric, I thicken it with fragrance free shaving gel (Edge is the brand I find works best) and use a plastic putty knife to apply through the thermofax screen.
I've experimented with a lot of different techniques and this is what works for me.
Dale Anne asked about the crows - they are screens made from a photograph. Nearly all of my screens are made from my digital photographs these days - so easy to manipulate in Photoshop to get a good black and white image necessary for making a thermofax screen. And no copyright issues!
This piece, about 36" x 48" is the first of a series I have planned. I've been working with paper since Christmas, but am cleaning up my studio today, organizing storage for the paper process and getting set up for working with fabric. I've got to make more room around my sewing machine and on my big work tables.Liz asked what I was using for paint with the stamps. When working with paper, I have been using acrylic craft paint - the cheap kind in a little 2 oz or 59 ml bottle. This is wonderfully opaque over papers like newsprint, etc. It also adds texture, durability, and strength to the paper. I use foam brushes to apply the paint to my stamps. I use a foam roller for screen printing on paper. To get transparent color on paper, I have been using MX dye.
With the fabric, I use Setacolor fabric paints by Pebeo. I have these in both opaque and transparent and intermix them according to my whim. I've tried various Jacquard products, but I find their odor bothers me, so I stick with the Setacolor. I apply the Setacolor to my stamps with foam brushes, but when screen printing on fabric, I thicken it with fragrance free shaving gel (Edge is the brand I find works best) and use a plastic putty knife to apply through the thermofax screen.
I've experimented with a lot of different techniques and this is what works for me.
Dale Anne asked about the crows - they are screens made from a photograph. Nearly all of my screens are made from my digital photographs these days - so easy to manipulate in Photoshop to get a good black and white image necessary for making a thermofax screen. And no copyright issues!
Thanks for that information, Cynthia. I've made a note of it - particularly since I've recently been experimenting with thermofax screens after acquiring a Gocco printer for Christmas. The images were a bit blurry for me using thickened procion dyes but maybe they weren't thick enough. I'll try your idea. I never thought of shaving foam!
ReplyDeleteThank you for mentioning how you use Setacolors with screenprinting! I now have access to a thermofax, and have used thickened dyes, but wondered if I could use my collection of paints. All I need to get is the shaving gel!
ReplyDeleteThe fabric is wonderful, by the way.