Tag Archives: Using Magic Sizing

Working with Magic Sizing as a Resist

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.