feathers painted onto silk with dye
for my project, the wing dress
the dress consists of 11 panels
out of which 7 have feathers on them
i am done with the 6th panel so far and...
wait a minute
i've been here before
at the exact same place
about a year ago, i was working on
the first version of the dress
which later was labeled (by myself) as "not quite"
hence the emergence of the version #2
as if lost in rainforest,
am i seeing the same tree, going
around and around...and around?
well,
i decided to see it this way instead
the same view, only wider
seeing further
that's positive thinking, my friend
so anyhow,
the 7th panel of the 2nd version is
the front/center panel,
the task at hand,
the challenge
and as you see below,
as of now it looks like hell
and the beautifying of
the hell of this variety
has been my specialty
(just kidding)
below:
always lay your work on
flat, newish paper
for even and controlled dye application
top-no, no
bottom-yes, yes
one more thing:
when the work is longer than the table
let the fabric hang with gentle arch
otherwise sharp edge of the desk will
leave crease on the fabric
making it harder to paint evenly
since ironing is out of question
until the (acid) dye is steam-set
that'd put you in trouble
speaking of trouble...
i was working on 4th panel when
i noticed 2 bottles of dye,
one black, another blue black
sitting on my messy work tray...
below:
my messy work tray
more than you wish to behold
now, since my intention is to use blue black
black has no business being where it was
unless, of course, i made error of the year and
painted first 4 panels in black....!
(((horrors!!!)))
next:
black (l) and blue black (r)
and a naked lady scratching her head for me
while turning blue
in sheer panic i created 2 test pieces,
thin strips in black and blue black
and saw how they bleed with a drop of water
next 2:
black is reddish
verdict is in
(a sigh of relief)
moral?
don't touch the messy tray half-heartedly
that's all for today, thanks for viewing!
be sure not to miss the beautifying of the beast
coming up next....
