Clyde

Another dreary day here in New Orleans, but it's getting colorful in my studio as I begin to bring "Clyde" to life!

Even though I have shared my painting  process  many times over the years with photos, videos and classes...I always get lots of questions, so I'll go through the process again here.

Yesterday, I transferred my drawing to the cloth in preparation to begin painting.  I used Prismacolor pencils in  colors close to what I will be using to paint to transfer the outlines. Today, I made the masks in preparation for the background base painting. I do this with different materials as the mood strikes me...sometimes soy wax, sometimes freezer paper.  This time I used freezer paper.  Here they are all cut and ironed in place on the background.



Next, I start layering color on the  background.  I prefer to use very liquid textile paints,  inks or dyes because they leave absolutely no stiffness on the fabric. To  keep them from seeping too much under the masks, I thicken them. What I use as a thickener depends on the colorant. For dye-like thin paints I use plain old cheap shaving cream; for inks I use aloe vera gel; for dyes I use sodium alginate.

On this piece I used Jacquard's Dye-na-flow thickened with shaving cream. Here you can see the background after the color has been added. The masks are still in place.



Once the background is fully dry, I peel off the freezer paper masks.



Later in the process, I will be adding more surface design elements to the background...I prefer to save that  until I get the main elements painted.

But for now,  Clyde is ready to get some color!