Statement of the Problem
For most of my work, I pretreat the silk with sizing to slow the spread of dye. In areas that I want smooth, solid color the dye penetrates unevenly and streaks appear.
Observation and Theory
By sizing my silk, I take advantage of the barrier that builds up between adjacent areas and prevents (somewhat) unwanted dye from running between them. This principle works best if adjacent areas are totally dry (you touch the dyed surface, it is not cool). I think that barrier is made of dye pigment and sizing that has been pushed toward the neighboring dry area - like the line of sand that is left by a wave.
Experiment
So, what about pushing just the sizing toward the edges of each shape? With distilled water on my brush, I start in the center of the area I want to be solid, pushing the moisture outward. Before gathering up more fresh water, I wipe any sizing that I may have picked up from my brush. I continue pushing moisture outward until I reach the edges of the shape I'm working on. I then blot the area with paper towel to remove even more sizing that may have floated to the surface.
After the area had dried, I paint the area with solid color, overlapping each brush stroke and pushing the color forward to the sides of the shape.
Results
Yay - it works- even with the most granular colors like Dupont's Almande and Artichaut.
For Further Study
1. For very diluted, pale colors (diluted with distilled water only): Try a drop of Dupont's diluent into the mixture before painting the solid area you've cleaned out. Let me know what you all experience.
2. What if you systematically clean out the sizing throughout the painting? In a sense - creating lines of resistance without using resist.
3. Or how about selectively cleaning out the sizing: reserving some areas for textural detail and others (where you've cleaned out the sizing) for smooth areas of blended colors or of solid color. Hummmmm.....
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