Monday, April 30, 2012

Silk Clivia II - Silk Painting

This is the silk painting that I was using as a demo piece on Saturday.  I finished painting it today but it hasn't been steamed or stretched yet which is why it looks wrinkled.  Also, the white lines will be brighter once the resist is washed out.  At least I finished painting it.  : )  

This is a design I have painted before but the first one didn't have a border.  I'll post the first painting at the end of this post.  This one also has lighter flowers.

These flowers are Clivias, also known as Kaffir lilies.  Typically they are orange but a few years ago I saw some pale yellow ones that I had to have.  They are a lot harder to find than the orange ones. The yellow is such a soft yellow for the garden.  Usually yellow flowers are pretty bright.

I was so happy when I finished painting this without having any bloopers.  I was really nervous painting the black.  It's really easy to flick the dye while lifting the brush and have it go in the worst places.  That would have ruined the whole painting if black had gotten on the flowers or leaves.  Originally, I painted the border a flat green.  The flowers are so delicate that I didn't want a busy border to clash with that.  After painting the border, it looked really blah to me so I held my breath as I added a different color.  

When a color is added over an already painted area, the underneath color is activated enough to cause hard lines very quickly so it's impossible to get a smooth color wash.  The effect is actually pretty cool but it would be hard to control the effect on a border because I have to start in one spot and switch off painting in both directions so that the dye doesn't dry and create an even harder edge.  I added salt as I painted to create a more overall texture.  I'm actually very happy with it.  The salt drew the color that I added (brown) but didn't lift the original color (green) so the color mix is really pretty.

Below is this painting with the green border before I added the brown and salt.

And here is the original silk clivia painting I did a couple of years ago.  After I steamed it and washed it, I noticed a white area (you can see it in this photo in the lower left corner area) in the black background so I repainted it and re-steamed it.  I learned a lesson.  The black and oranges bled in a couple of areas so even though most people think it looks fine, I could never sell it so I've always intended to re-paint is because I really like the design.  This photo was taken before I re-steamed it so you can't see the color bleed. 
Which of the three versions do you like best?

Silk Clivias II
Image Size 22" x 22"
Silk dyes on silk


10 comments:

  1. Les trois versions sont belles et intéressantes... cependant j'aime particulièrement la toute première que vous nous montrez. Beaucoup de raffinement et de délicatesse.
    Une très belle composition qui ferait frémir Demoiselle Printemps. Votre travail est merveilleux tout comme vos mots pour en parler.
    Une merveilleuse publication.
    Gros bisous

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  2. Merci beaucoup pour vos aimables commentaires Martinealison.

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  3. I like the first because it is so delicate.
    I like the second for the same reason.
    ...and I like the third because the colour makes it so dynamic that I can almost pick it off my screen.

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  4. Gosh, now that is one hard question you asked at the end. I really love how your border came out in the top piece. A really cool, almost granite like effect. I also like the green border but then, I've always liked yellow and green together because they are my parents' favorite colors. Green is also my favorite color. You've answered a couple of questions for me in this post (painting with dye, bleeding, etc.). Thanks Nancy! And I think it is a beautiful piece!

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  5. Oh no... I guess I missed this demo. I missed your earlier post too - these busy Sat afternoons... anyway if you are doing demo again anywhere else, I will make some time.I would love to watch.
    All three pieces are wonderful, I like the one with brown border the best though.

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  6. Thank you John and I appreciate your saying why you like each one. That is very helpful.

    Thanks Sherry. I love green too but I think the top painting has more punch because of the border. I'm glad I answered some questions for you.

    Thank you Prerana. I like it best too.

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  7. I love this design, Nancy! I like the border a lot on the first one and it was my favorite, until I scrolled down and saw the bottom one! I love the vibrant colors in the third one, and the orange against the black is so dramatic!

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  8. Thank you Theresa. I still like the original one the best too.

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  9. All 3 are crisp, clean, and beautiful. I do like the orange and yellow best in the first version, but I think the dark border in the newest version adds the feeling of earthiness. Your silk paintings are always so vibrant and defined, they are all beautiful.

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  10. Thank you Robin. What a nice comment.

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