Saturday, July 24, 2010

Another Monthly Art Experiment for July

I wanted to try “dyeing” plain fabric with water-soluble crayons. It’s so simple! I applied the crayons (Caran D’ache Neocolor II) very lightly to a piece of tightly woven muslin – then just brushed on water to blend. I kept the application of color very light because I wanted to use the fabric for a background to which I would be adding more color and stitching. I used a light box to trace a quick sketch of a zinnia from my nature journal onto the fabric, backed it with a piece of felt and then stitched it in black floss. The center is filled with French knots and straight stitches. I colored in the flower and leaves after I had finished stitching them, adding water to blend. Here is a great link showing the versatility of Caran D’ache Neocolor II water-soluble crayons (with tutorials) by wonderful artist, Fannie Narte.

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process and plan on transferring more sketches to cloth. This one will probably be made into a postcard at some point. I will use my heat gun to set the colors.

4 comments:

Eggs In My Pocket said...

I just love it! I also love the stitching you added. blessings,Kathleen

One Creative Queen said...

Gorgeous! You did a beautiful job - and have inspired me to get my Neocolors out to play. Great job! xx

allie aller said...

Interesting and very pretty. I would never have thought of stitching first and then coloring inside it....

artymess said...

this is lovely really delicate ......i have some of these but haven't ever used them ....i am a collector of crafty stuff that I never use ......I will have a go now ...........x