Alas, monoprinting went OK at best. In some cases the paint dried too fast (retarder helped, but...), in others I just didn't like the look.
I was very excited about using water soluble crayons on my silk screen and transferring the color to my masked fabric with a gel medium. However, my pastels were oil based, as was the kids' set; and my fabric crayons apparently are too. My watercolor pencils didn't work well at all, and on top of that, the mediums I had make the fabric feel all weird and plasticy. I got what I could at the art supply store here, but they didn't have any of the products suggested in the article I was following. I could try the craft store, or mail order, but I'm tired of shopping for this project.
On top of all of that disappointment, my ever present sun disappeared behind rainclouds and my second sun print didn't turn out. At least the color of the paint is nice, even if it doesn't have the intended leaf pattern on it.
I had some success making thermofax style screens with a product called EZ screen, so my plan now is to make one more screen and try my hand at some modified silkscreening.
I must say though, as disappointed and frustrated as I am right now, it's not permanent, it's not brain surgery, and I can't blame the how-to articles that inspired me. No -- it's all just part of the work that needs to be done to find out what works for us, and what works for each individual piece. Everything isn't going to be predictable or perfect. It's all a process.
9 comments:
Wow. That is frustrating. But, you have the right attitude. It's just part of the process. Weather is something articles don't always take into consideration. It's pretty amazing how much light, temperature and humidity can affect certain techniques.
Oh, you've had a terrible time with this. I hope the thermofax screening works out. I don't really care for the feel of the fabric after using mat medium. Are you by chance refering to the article by Linda Colsh about using watercolor crayons? I tried that myself and it turned out terrible
Ugh. How frustrating. I have had days like that. I was tempted to try the watercolor crayon silkscreen technique too, but maybe I'll skip that one.
Oh gosh. My plan for the day is screen printing but with textile paint. (I too skipped the thickened dye because I didn't want to deal with those steps.) Part of what's frustrating is wanting to just relax and enjoy the process -- but when you are printing or painting for a particular project, it's hard to just accept "whatever happens." So I can imagine how frustrated you were and I hope my day goes a bit better.
I'm sorry for your frustration and disappointment. I do have to say that I really like the green piece of fabric you have drying in the picture. The striped shoots are great. I hope all those factors out of your control start to cooperate.
Wish I could stop by with all the supplies you need!! Good attitude!
Thanks for the commiseration everyone. Karen, the article I was trying was Rainbow Printing by Susie Monday in Quilting Arts. The rest of the experiments were amalgamations of things I like. I'm anxiously awaiting more sun to continue on.
I agree with Nikki, this green piece is lovely. And I'm excited to see all these lovely paints and goodies out on your patio. :-). I wish we had some dry weather here so I could play outside too. I'm sure you'll have sun very soon (sooner than me!)
Good luck! I'm looking forward to seeing what you'll do next.
Wow, that a lot of work for a twelve inch quilt! i am sure that the cosmic karma thing will mean your acquired knowedge of how not to do things wilk pay off some day!
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