I’ve been playing with a new technique for about a month now…applying Magic Sizing to my silk and using it as a resist. Thanks to Karen Sistek, who developed this technique, and to Francine Dufour Jones for sharing information about this process.
Here’s some brief notes about the process I have tried:
I spray the stretched silk with sizing as a first step. It doesn’t take much to coat the silk with a wet coat.
Sometimes the sizing puddles a bit. Then I use a folded paper towel to spread it more evenly across the silk.
At this point I let it dry. It doesn’t take all that long to let it air dry. However, I often get impatient! So, I dry it with a hairdryer if I can’t wait for it to air dry!Now I can begin to add color. This is where it gets exciting. I can use a big sponge brush to add big blocks of color, or block in shapes for the composition I plan to use. My previous experience with silk tells me that with no sizing added, color will spread as far as possible before drying with a broken line on dry silk, or with a diffused cloud effect on wet silk. However, with magic sizing as a resist, color will stay, with blocky edges and no diffusing. This is very freeing!
This is such a different effect than what I have previously learned; such new paths to learn now!
Here is the first painting I completed using this process. Here it is in progress. This new technique will take much effort to master, and I am just beginning with it. I love it, and can’t wait to see how it will change my work. At the beginning of this year I challenged myself to work more with incorporating drawing into my work, and also work with developing shapes and blocks of color, not just line. This technique allows for exactly that.