NEWAArts News: Batik Art Introduction

Batik in Colville?!

Sure, why not. Our instructor, Sylvia, learned about batik on a trip to Malaysia. She is a wonderful teacher and has a lot to share with budding batik artists.

Batik is an involved process but the outcome can be stunningly beautiful.

This introductory project requires 100% cotton fabric.

After treating the fabric in a mixture of water PH Up we let the fabric dry.

Step 1: Choose a picture to trace onto the 12"x12" fabric.

This student chose a coloring book image of dolphins downloaded from the web to trace. The student was very happy with the image and it proved to be just about right for a 10 year old.

Step 2: Stretch the fabric onto a frame. We used little hooks on rubber bands but for younger students prefer thumb tacks straight into the wood.

Step 3: Use a tjanting tool with melted batik wax to apply wax to the traced picture lines. The wax must soak through so you can see it on both sides of the fabric. If it doesn't soak through flip the fabric over and apply the wax to the back of the picture.

The trick here is to keep the wax from making blobs on the fabric. The magic is in the wax, it's makeup and the temperature. We used some batik wax the instructor brought from Malaysia but when it runs out we will have to test other wax options. This wax has some resin in it to make it yellow and it crackles nicely when dry.

Step 4: Applying the dye

With cotton fabric it helps to moisten the fabric before applying the dye with a paintbrush. It runs better when the fabric is moist and looks more like a water color painting.

Dye is prepared using urea. This humectant helps the dye fuse with the fabric. Without using it our finished product is washed out.

The first example above is washed out while the one next to it is vibrant.

For a complete set of instructions - just ASK!
The process is involved and requires chemical treatments.

Below are some pictures of this week's batik artists.