Types of silk:

Habutai, Silk Organza, Pongee silk - sometimes called paj

Silk is graded by ‘mommies’, a traditional Japanese measure. 

Mommies indicate the weight of a fabric per metre. One mommie = 4.33 grams. The more mommies the denser the silk.

FRAMES:

Silk can only be painted successfully if the fabric is evenly stretched and freely suspended.  Before any silk is stretched on to the frame, cover the frame with wide Packaging tape, so it can easily be wiped clean with a damp cloth and no remains of paint from the precious work will spoil a new piece of silk.  The silk needs to be evenly stretched over the frame and as tightly as on a drum.  Start at the bottom edge of the frame with the right side of the silk uppermost.  Line it up with a straight edge of the fabric and hold the silk in place with one pin or tack in each corner pulling the silk as tight as possible.  Next, pin down the centre, then the centre to the right and to the left all along the bottom edge, until the intervals are no bigger than 5cm (2in).  Work in the same way along the opposite edge and finally along the two sides.  Adjustable frames can now be tightened a final time.

Watchpoint: During pinning no pleats, stretch marks or wavy lines should appear on the silk fabric.  To make sure that the silk is freely suspended and not anywhere in touch with the table, it is best to lift the frame off the table by supporting all four corners with four tins or small boxes. 

SILK PAINTING with SILK EXPRESS

Gutta Technique: Sometimes referred to as a blocking technique, or resist technique or outline technique.

First either sketch lightly the design on to the silk (a 2B pencil is good) or place a suitable drawing behind the fabric.

Solvent gutta comes in a bottle and must be transferred into a small plastic dispenser.

Half fill the bottle, snip a tiny bit off the top of the dispenser and add the nib by taping it in place. 

Younger children really don’t need the nibs. The dispenser bottle can be used and does quite fine lines

 Now copy the outlines of the design with gutta on to the silk:

* Apply to the upper left hand corner first.

* Try not to have too many stops and starts, long flowing lines (as gutta will blob at stopping).

* Wipe nozzle with a tissue before proceeding after each stop.

* Make sure your silk is NOT in contact with any surface.

Hold the frame against the light to check that the gutta lines are uninterrupted and have sunk into the silk properly and make sure that all the lines are closed.

Allow to dry 10 - 30 minutes.

Never leave gutta in these little dispensers when finished. Up end gutta in to the original gutta bottle.

Put the dispenser bottle and nib in to a jar of gutta solvent. When clean take out (using gloves) and use an old cloth to dry.

Gutta that has thickened can be thinned by adding a little gutta solvent or Shellite.

Applying Colour:

Use colour straight from the bottle.  Start in the middle of a "field" with a full brush but paint only to near the edge of the "field".  The colour will spread out to the gutta lines.

Place colour in palette - work fast with one brush, one colour into the next - blending.  Soft colour changes are best achieved on a damp background.

To paint large areas, well soaked but not dripping wet cotton wool swabs of paint are useful.  Hold them with a clothes peg, or tie them on to a small stick.  Smaller areas are painted with a soft brush, then a stiff brush rubbed over the changes.

Leave to dry.  Once dry leave to set (bond) away from direct sunlight and dampness.

Silk Express Fixative:

 Once painted silk has dried for over 24 hours, add 3 cap fulls of fixative for each litre of water. Immerse the painted silk, agitate and leave for 1 minute only.

Avoid crumpling the silk, use tray as wide as possible. Lift out and rinse in cold water containing a few drops of vinegar, hand to dry.

The Fixative bath can be re-used until it becomes badly discoloured.

Steam Fixing:

To steam fix a painting allow the silk to dry for at least 12 hours.  So that no discolouration or staining occurs, it is important that the silk does not come into contact with any water and that it is only penetrated by the steam.  To achieve this, roll the silk between double layers of six weeks old newspapers, or kitchen towelling, making sure there are no creases in the silk and that the paper overlaps on both sides by at least 5cm (2in).  Seal with adhesive tape.  Line a sieve or tray with newspaper and fit in the rolled up parcel.

Put 2 cm (3/4 in) of water into the steamer, add the sieve with the silk parcel and elevate it on upside down cup or dish, to make sure that no water can reach the silk.  Cover the sieve with a dome of aluminium foil to stop any drips of condensation falling on to the silk.  The steaming process in a pressure cooker will take about 45 minutes at mark 2. Without pressure it will take at least twice long. A bamboo steamer may be used instead of a sieve, placed over boiling water.

The fixed silk painting should be rinsed in plenty of cold water, to which a dash of vinegar has been added, then ironed whilst damp.  Avoid soaking in water for any length of time, as well as scrunching up, as some bleeding of surplus can be expected.  The silk can be patted dry with a clean cloth.  Gutta lines which are not soluble in water are removed with dry-cleaning liquid (Shellite) before washing the silk.  Gold and silver gutta should also be dry-cleaned.

To remove gutta:

After steaming and washing out the silk piece in warm water and a little gentle detergent, the sticky gutta is generally all gone, with just the lines remaining. For stubborn gutta use an old toothbrush and scrub with gutta solvent. (Wear gloves!)

Gold and silver gutta don’t come off. However, constant washing may wash them off in time. 

They are more suitable for pictures than clothing.

DIFFUSING AGENT:

 Used for even dyeing. Mix up to 30 drops of diffusant with one litre of water.

 Dilute the dyes with this mixture and brush on to the silk. Use this if you want the dyes to run together and blend seamlessly and well.

 Rub with the brush at joining lines to blend well.

Diffusant stops the dyes from drying so quickly.

DIFFUSING INHIBITOR (anti fusant)

Prevents the dye from spreading.

It is useful if you wish to paint controlled lines or definite shapes. It can be applied before or after painting the background.

You can’t blend colours into each other where anti fusant has been used.

It can be applied to the dye with a cotton wool ball on a peg, or with a large brush.

When it is dry the silk can be painted on. Good for fine work and detail. * Can also be added to individual paints.

Removing diffusing inhibitor: First the silk work must be steamed or fixed, and then it is washed well.

The stiffness caused by the anti fusant will come out of the silk. 

Thickener:

Manutex comes in liquid form.

 Some silk painters use Manutex to thicken silk dyes by pouring a small amount in to the dye as required.

Salt Technique:

Since salt attracts water, if there is colour pigment suspended in the water it will be attracted by salt as well.  So if kernels of ordinary salt are strewn over a damp, evenly coloured area each salt kernel will soak up dampness from its surroundings and with it the colour pigment.  The result is a marvellous, but unpredictable, marbled or clouded effect. 

Different salts give different patterns, so it is best to experiment.

Watchpoint: Be careful not to have any water standing on the fabric, or the salt will "drown".

Leave the salt on the silk until everything is dry, then brush it off with a soft brush and fix the paints as recommended by the manufacturer.

Watchpoint: The dryer the salt, the quicker it will work and the more moisture it can soak up.  Warm it a little in an open container in the oven before applying.

TROUBLE SHOOTING: GUTTA

If the lines of gutta are too wide and uneven, with a "blob" at the beginning and the end and has poor control it will be because the gutta is flowing too fast because the opening is too wide. Place a small piece of paper at the start and the end of a line to catch the "blob" or starting drop. This is especially useful when using an applicator.

If you have spots of gutta it is probably because the silk is not tautly stretched and touches the work surface; the lines spread and smear.  The applicator is not tightly closed.  To correct this stretch the silk again. 

The gutta does not come out of the applicator because it is too thick.  Add some gutta solvent and place into a fresh applicator.  If the hole is too small; enlarge it with a needle.  You may have placed too much gutta in the applicator. Empty it and fill again.

If the gutta does not work effectively, paints breach the dam and jump the line of resist. The reason for this could be that the gutta is too thick.  The gutta did not completely penetrate the fabric. The gutta is too liquid.  The gutta is of poor quality.

To correct this prepare another applicator and add more solvent to the gutta.

On heavier fabrics it might also be necessary to apply the gutta on the reverse side. 

Open the applicator, allow the solvent to evaporate from the gutta.

If the gutta has breaks in the line and paint runs through the openings you have left openings, however tiny, in the lines or the applicator skipped on the silk while you were applying the gutta and has created an uneven line. 

To correct this problem be sure you have good lighting where you work and go over the openings again before you proceed to paint. 

You are working against the grain of the silk.  Try to move with the fibres.

TROUBLE SHOOTING: PAINTS

If your background colours are uneven and they streak of have dark edge areas it will be because you have diluted your paints too much and they are unstable, or your brush was not clean, or there is too much water and not enough alcohol in your mixed paint. 

If backgrounds are uneven, the colours show dark edge lines and light spots you have gone back over a dry area or you have applied fresh paint next to dry paint.  You should always keep the fabric wet while you are working.

If there is a spot of colour on a white surface it is probably because of clumsiness or a gap in the gutta line.  You should check the gutta and close the opening in the line if necessary.  Clean the spot with a cotton swab dipped in water while you place a cotton ball underneath.

If there is a spot on an area, which has already been painted, it is from a gap in the gutta line.  If the spot is located within a small area, moisten the entire area again with a brush dipped in water and rub where the spot is.  Remove as much paint as possible from the edges with a drier brush.  Repeat this operation several times then apply paint again.  If the spot is on a large surface, there is not much you can do about it.  In general you can save a background with a problem by:

* Moistening the entire area and scattering coarse salt.

You will need: