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Comment by Janine on June 10, 2009 at 5:59pm

is it possible to bleach canvas to be batiked on? The course I took on batik had us use canvas, but I would love to have it white rather than natural colour.
Any tips? Should I soak it in vinegar after to make sure it is neutralized before adding the sodium carbonate (soda ash).

Comment by Janine on May 14, 2009 at 7:09am

Has anyone ever tried mixing pigment into the wax and then applying it, then ironing off the wax? I am going to experiment with that and see what happens.

Comment by Donna on April 26, 2009 at 6:12pm

Oh, wow! These are great, Janine. I want to give this a try, but I know nothing about this soda ash thing. Guess I'd better get busy googling.

Comment by Janine on April 26, 2009 at 6:04pm

Here are some photos of the piece (not yet finished). The last two are close up details.

Comment by Janine on April 26, 2009 at 5:44pm

outlining batik in black india ink or thickened black dye produces amazing results. I will post a photo soon.

Comment by Janine on April 20, 2009 at 7:33pm

I learned that in the workshop here in Toronto. It is a technique used by a well known batik artist here called David Kibuuka.
check out his site
http://www.kibuuka.com/

Comment by Textile Traveler on April 20, 2009 at 11:16am

Janine, that's very interesting. Does the book cover the technique of painting the powders on with a brush, or would you have to take the workshop for that info?

Comment by Janine on April 20, 2009 at 11:07am

This past Sunday I took a workshop in Modern Batik.
I want to share this because it is possibly the easiest way of doing batik.
I would always suggest starting with a book. One I have is called " Creative Batik" by Rosi Robinson.
In my workshop they showed me that one does not have to go through fussy dye mixing to do the batik. All you need to do is buy the powder MX dyes and put a tiny amount on an old plate or palette and just dip the wet brush in some dye and add a tiny bit more water, then just apply it to your penciled out design on the cotton.
Now, they didn't teach us to pretreat the fabric with a fix soloution to bind the dyes to it. They don't because they say it can just be framed behind glass. Everything else I read said it is important to fix the dyes to the fabric so that your piece will last. Also if you want to stretch your work over canvas rather than framing it, it is important to fix the dyes.
The book I mentioned explains a very simple way you can do this. If you are just working by dipping the brush in water and powdered dye, then you can just follow the Soda Ash recipe in the book and brush it over your cotton before applying the dyes. After doing your initial colours, you start blocking those areas out with bee's wax or parafin wax (see book for details), and then go back to add more colours.
Another unique thing I learned in this course that I haven't seen in other forms of batik is that once all the dyes are applied (they say never use the word paint when doing batik) and have dried, and you have ironed off all the wax, you then take india ink and ouline your details.
In traditional batik outlines are defined with the wax and come out the white colour of the cloth, so I find this method really great, especially since I like outlining details in black in my work anyway. Next weekend I will be doing the india ink step. I will post an image of it once it is done.

Comment by Terri Lipman on February 16, 2009 at 2:23pm

What type of wax are you using for batik? I don't think vinegar water would hurt the batik but I would be cautious with the silk and dyes in a microwave.

Unfortunately, I think I need more info. Perhaps someone else is more familiar with your particular technique.

Comment by Janine on February 16, 2009 at 1:12pm

is it wrong for batik to remoisten the dyed silk with vinegar water and then set in the microwave? Things I read on pocion h seem to suggest that for batik it should be set in a steamer. I am being unconventional so I hope the art pieces I have done so far hold up.

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