The Process of Making my Piece

Using cut-outs and the overhead projector, I began constructing the final composition to the exact scale of their batik on paper in order to begin design work.

Projector being used to create composition

I made two enlarged drawings on tracing paper and overlapped them in order to further abstract the initial image.

   First drawing

Second drawing

Final composition

I then decided on the colour palette. I wanted the colours to reflect some symbolic meaning on the story characters, for example,the positive/negative or stronger/weaker characters/aspects of the story. The reds represent the stronger, more aggressive and dominant nature of the scorpion whereas the greens reflect the more peaceful, passive nature of the frog.

Final complete colour design which I used as a guide whilst painting,waxing and dip dying

Using a light box I traced the composition onto the cloth and then stretched it using thumb tacks onto the stretcher.

I attached the fabric to the wooden stretcher with pins. The fabric should be taut, without sagging and not so tight that it doesn’t distort their drawing.

I began by fabric painting the image using specialist fabric paint. It is very potent and needs to be diluted with water. Various hues, tones and colour densities can be achieved. It can be treated like paint and mixed in order to achieve different colours.

Finished fabric painting

Using old paint brushes and I applied melted wax, directly from the wax pots to the painted area before dipping.

I scratched into the shape outline to try and get more line definition and cracked the wax to try and get more texture into the piece as it was very flat looking.

I I  I dipped the piece in blue dye in order to achieve a blue background. When it dyed to the correct tone removed rinsed and hung to dry. 

Soaking in the dye

Hanging to dry on a clothes line

When the piece was complete I  waxed the entire composition which gives the piece a uniform texture. The wax leaves a stain or waxy residue on the fabric. When the piece was fully dry I ironed the piece between pieces of newsprint in order to remove the excess wax and smooth out the fabric which will be crinkly from the dyeing.

I am a bit disappointed in the final outcome of this piece however I really enjoyed the process of making it, especially the design process. I think if I was to attempt this again I would do far less fabric painting and concentrate on the dying and the colour combinations resultant from the dip dying process. There are various aspects of the design process which I do think are fairly interesting but my own inexperience and lack of confidence made me rely too much on the fabric paint. I plan on experimenting much more in batik and dip dying in a more experimental way in the future.

The final composition