To paint on fabric, a surface designer uses resists to control which areas will take color and which will not. Wherever they arc ap-plied, resists keep the dyes from penetrating both the fabric and other dyes, so you (’a paint over them or next to them. There is an unlimited number of resists, but as a free-lance designer, I need to work quickly, so I use three resists that are fast and easy to handle: masking tape, gutta, and wax. These resists are intended for cotton and silk, but they’ll work on other fabrics too.
All fabrics should be bought “prepared for painting,” or they should be washed so that any finish in the fibers that might repel the dyes is removed. The first step in painting on fabric is to stretch it. Stretch-ing keeps the fabric from moving or buckling while the resists or dyes are being applied. The objective is to keep the fabric square so that the grain (or weave) of the fabric is straight and the tension even. Uneven fabric will keep the brush and dye from moving smoothly and will distort the finished design.
I attach the fabric to a wooden frame with either pushpins or thumbtacks, or I pin it directly to the table, playing newspapers underneath it. The wooden frame helps me to obtain even dye coverage, while the table provides a flatter surface for spray-painting or block-printing. When you work on a frame, tape the edges so that there is always a clean surface in contact with the fabric. If you work on a table, change the newspapers after you have finished each design so that the dyes and resists will not seep through to clean fabric. When stretching fabric, I work from left to right, placing pins alternately at the bot-tom and top; then I work down the sides. I tug the fabric taut as I go along, pulling it in both directions so that I will get the best stretch.
When talking about resists and fabric painting, it is also important to discuss dyes. I work with fiber-reactive dyes (dyes that penetrate the fibers), such as Protein; and French liquid dyes, such as Tinfix, Sennelier, and Elbesoie.
Fiber-reactive dyes come in liquid or powder form. They have to be mixed with baking soda, which causes the dye to bond to the fabric, and a chemical thickener, which keeps the color from running. I use only the liquid form. Powdered dyes are toxic, and the fine, airborne particles can leave pigment spots on the fabric. If you use powdered dyes, be sure to wear a respirator mask while mixing them. Always wear rubber gloves when working to elimi- na te the chance of a bsorbing the dyes through your skin.
Fabrics dyed with fiber-reactive are washable and durable, and the colors won't fade in sunlight. These dyes are best for garment fabrics and fabrics for interiors, but they have to be rinsed out after they've been heat-set. To heat-set dyes, you can use a professional steamer, or the stove, as I do. I roll the fabric in newspaper, put it on a rack in a pot with a small amount of water, and place the pot on the stove to steam the fabric for about V2 hour. Heat-setting is sometimes done with an iron on a high steam setting, but the results are harder to control.
French liquid dyes produce niee bright colors and can be applied right from the bottle. However, they are expensive, may run when washed (even if they’ve been heat-set), and will fade in sunlight. There are French liquid dyes made for cotton, but I use those made of wool and silk.
Masking tapeMasking tape is the easiest dye resist to use. (I also use Con-Tact paper in the same way.) It works better with fi-ber-reactive dyes than with French liquid dyes because the chemical thickener that is added to fiber-reactive keeps the color from seeping underneath the tape. Masking tape is also more effective on cotton, which isn't as slippery as silk.
To apply a tape resist to fabric, press it firmly against that part of the fabric where you don't want the dye to go, to create any shape you want. After you've applied one color, lift off the tape, apply new tape to another area, and paint on a second color. This resist technique leaves perfect edges, and its removal is easy and safe.
Tape, as well as screens of metal, cloth, or rubber, make good resists when dyes are applied with an airbrush or a spray bottle. I often combine tape with screen resists to get a variety of effects.
GuttaGutta, available in most art-supply stores, is a liquid resist with the consistent- cy of rubber cement. It comes in clear, black, and a limited number of colors. Unlike clear gutta, black and colored gutta are not removed from the fabric, because they will run. Instead, they're worked in as part of the design. Onee you heat-set black or colored gutta, the fabric is washable.
Gutta won’t penetrate heavy fabrics, so it works best as a resist on silk or thin cotton. It is more effective with French liquid dyes than with fiber-reactive dyes; French liquid dyes will spread to the line of resist, but fiber-relatives have to be carefully painted right next to it. I apply gutta with a cone to produce fine lines and small details, although you can brush it on. You can work with a squeeze bottle or syringe applicator, too, but you won't be able to vary the line thickness.
To make a gutta one, but a piece of vellum tracing paper about 6 in. by 8 in. Then, starting at one edge, roll it around your finger until you have a neat, tight cone with no hole at the tip. Fix the seam with cellophane tape, beginning at the tip. Trim the top of the cone so the edge is even, and fill two thirds of it with gutta. (You can thin gutta with rubber-cement thinner if it's too thick, or if you're applying it with a paintbrush.) With the taped seam facing you, fold the top edge over twice and secure it with another piece of tape. To draw the outline of your design, snip off the tip (the smaller the cut, the finer the line you will produce), and squeeze the cone as you draw, rolling the top as the gutta is used up, in the same way you would a paint tube.
Before you start painting the image area, check to see that the gutta outline is thoroughly dry; otherwise, the dye will seep underneath it, and the design will be ruined. Wet gutta is shiny and sits on top of the fabric; when dry, it is flat. Take care to paint next to the resist, not directly on it, because the dye will stain the gutta.
Be sure the dyes are completely dry before removing the clear guttayou can speed up the drying process with a hair dryer. Gutta is removed with naphthol benzine, a toxic chemical that should be used only in a well-ventilated area. For small pieces, pour the naphthol benzine into a large glass jar, drop the fabric into it, cover the jar, and then swirl the benzine around so that the fabric is completely saturated. Let it soak for approximately Vi hour (longer, if you have used a lot of gutta), remove the fabric and let it dry. I put larger pieces in a basin full of benzine, which I keep covered with newspapers to reduce the fumes. Always wear rubber gloves when handling the soaked fabric. Naphthol benzine can be reused until it becomes thick and cloudy; keep it stored in the can.
Wax - Wax is one of the oldest and most common resists. Wax will work with any cold-water dye. I use it with both French liquid and fiber-reactive dyes on cotton and silk. The wonderful thing about using wax is that you can run the dye brush right over it when layering colors, at no risk to the dyes underneath. Wax is a great timesaver, too, because it can be applied quickly to large areas with a foam or nylon brush. It can also be applied with a tjanting tool for fine lines. The tjanting tool is a metal-tipped instrument with a wooden handle and a well to hold the resist. But there are two major drawbacks to using wax: It emits toxic fumes, and it's difficult to remove from the fabric.
When using wax, I prepare a mixture of half paraffin and half beeswax. Melt the wax either in a saucepan on an electric hot plate or in an electric frying pan. Work in an area that is well ventilated, and never melt wax in the kitchen. Before you apply the melted wax, make sure it is translucent. This is a sign that the wax is hot enough to penetrate the fabric. If the wax is not hot enough, it will sit on top of the fabric, and the dye will seep underneath. If the wax is too hot, however, it will sizzle on the fabric and spread beyond the area you want to cover.
When the wax is the correct temperature, dip the tjanting tool into it so that the well is filled. Hold a drip cloth under the tool as you carry the wax from the pan to the fabric. Work quickly shot wax flows easily and, if you're slow, you may end up with too much wax on the fabric.
After you have painted the outlined images and they've dried, cover them completely with wax, and add the background color. When you have finished the background, wipe the excess dye off the waxed areas with paper towels; if it is left on, the dye will eventually stain the wax. If you are drying the dyes with a hair dryer, make sure that the dryer doesn’t get too hot; otherwise, the wax will melt and the design will be ruined.
You can get many different effects with wax. To create a pattern within a pattern, for example, apply wax to a solid or striped background, and then add another color to the surface. You can also stamp wax onto fabric with wooden blocks that you can buy or carve. Just dip the block into the wax, place it on the fabric, and hold it there for about four seconds. Then paint the image areas and background as usual.
You can produce a lined texture in a design if the wax is applied to fabric, then cracked. While beeswax keeps the wax mixture smooth for flat painting, more paraffin than beeswax is needed to create the cracked effect characteristic of batik. To achieve this effect, paint a lot of wax onto the plain fabric or the colored areas you want to crack, let the wax cool, gently crumple the fabric with your hands, and then apply a dark color over the cracked wax. Most designers dip the fabric into a tub of dye, but I restretch the crumpled fabric, paint the background color on, and then wipe off the excess dye.
Removing wax has always been a problem for surface designers. You can take the fabric to a dry cleaner, but many cleaners are hesitant to accept hand-painted fabrics because the dyes sometimes run in their machines. I melt the wax out by ironing the fabric between sheets of newspaper. You'll see a pattern come up through the paper as the wax lifts out of the fabric. If the fabric is still a little stiff, soak it in benzine for V/2 hour to 2 hours, depending on the amount of wax left in the fabric. Let the fabric air-dry for about 45 minutes.
Color Craft (Box 936, Avon, CT 06601) sells a cold-water wax-resist solution (called Cold Wax Solution) which, if you don't want to work with harsh chemicals, is a godsend. Cold Wax Solution is nontoxic and water soluble. Like gutta, it comes ready to use and can be brushed on or applied with a squeeze bottle or syringe applicator—but not with a paper cone, as it's a water-base resist. The best thing about this product is that it can be removed with hot water and detergent. However, you can use it with washable dyes only, and the dyes must be heat-set before the resist can be removed. I don't work with this liquid wax often, because it requires a lot of patience. The resist must be completely dry before the dye is applied, but it’s thicker than gutta, so it takes longer to dry. It also requires a lot of washing to thoroughly remove it from fabric.
Masking tape, gutta, and wax can each be used alone as a resist, or they may be combined for innovative results. The possibilities for surface design are endless, and I hope these few methods will set the artistic wheels in motion.
