Silkpaint® Resist can be used for a number of applications and is a worthwhile addition to any painter’s studio.
You can dilute Silkpaint Resist with water (adjust to your desired consistency), or it can be diluted or coloured with a small amount of paint or dye. These flowers have been painted by Jenny Lacey using a gutta outliner and adding the paint while still damp.
How to use the resist as a gutta outliner
- Draw out your design using an autofade pen. The ink from this pen can be completely removed immediately with water or left to fade to nothing over a couple of days.
- Decant some of the Silkpaint Resist into a pipette bottle and screw on a nib. The screw-on and push-on nibs allow fine lines to be drawn using the gutta outliner. Ensure that the resist has fully penetrated the fabric and that all circuits are joined (any gaps and the paint or dye will escape from the outline you have drawn).
- The silk can be painted with acid dyes such as Dupont or Fibrecrafts Acid dyes or silk paints while the resist is still wet. Allow the dye to flow within the design shapes to meet resist lines. Do not paint over the resist.
If you prefer to ‘free-style’ silk paint, the resist can be used as a primer to inhibit the flow of the paint or dye. Dilute 1 part resist with 3 parts water and paint onto the fabric with a wide brush. Allow to dry. With smaller brushes, paint liquid dyes on top of this ‘stop-flow’ surface layering colours if desired.
Other uses for Silkpaint® Resist
To stamp with dyes, dilute Silkpaint Resist with some of the dye and spread with a wide brush on vinyl or glass surface. Press the stamp into the solution and then onto the fabric. Alternatively, silk screen or stencil with the resist.
The resist can be used to thicken dye so that it can be painted with and the “non-bleed” colours can be applied with a stiff synthetic brush or sketched with using an applicator bottle. Draw open shapes with the resist and allow dyes to flow in and out of them.
Steam, heat set, or fix dyes according to manufacturers instructions. Machine wash on delicate setting (soap optional), and iron while damp. Should the ironing bring back any remaining resist particle to the surface, gently re-wash your fabric. Although Silkpaint Resist may be used successfully with many dye products, we recommend you test with your particular dye brand for compatibility.