100 Days of Mark Making on Fabric: Week 1

 

My 100 Days of Mark Making is off to a fantastic start!! I look forward to each of these mark-making sessions and learn so much from each day's series of experiments using different mark-making products and techniques. 

I already shared Day 1 and 2 in my Set Up Post, but here is the remainder of Week 1's creative adventures in mark making:

3/100: Textile Paints and Circles/Dots

One of the textures used to create many of these prints may shuck and a-maize you!! Cornfused?!? Below is a behind-the-scenes look at today's mark-making fun and play. Corny but true!! I tried rolling the corn into the paint but found it easier to use a paint brush to brush the paint onto the corn kernels. Two shishkabob skewers were poked into either end of the corn cob and made it easier/neater to roll across the fabric.

I experimented with three different paint brands: Jacquard Textile Color (black and white), Jacquard Neopaque (black and white), and ProChemical & Dye PRO Silk & Fabric Paint (Ebony). Each square of fabric was labeled for easy identification. All three paints performed beautifully with the Jacquard paints having a darker black pigment, as well as a thicker consistency for more crisp patterning. Any remaining paint was used for stamping with toilet paper rolls and a foam marshmalllow to create circles and rings.

4/100: Dye-Na-Flow and Circles/Dots

My plan A and B were a bit of a bust...so I went with Plan C of painting with Jacquard's Dye-Na-Flow (and a bit of salt). The Dye-na-Flow sure does flow so I needed to embrace the unpredictability as I brushed it onto the fabric. I tried adding some course salt to the last print which caused the fabric paint spread in unusual patterning.

5/100: Pens + Squares   

It's hip to be square! Today's dice roll involved using an assortment of black pens on 10" squares of PFD fabric. Here are the different pens I used from top left, clockwise:

• Uniball Vision Micro
• Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens (Brush 1-5mm and Medium 0.7mm)
• Pigma Graphic 1 Pen
• Pigma Graphic 3 Pen

Compared to the Dye-Na-Flow, I enjoyed the precision and control that was possible doodling with the pens to create these square-ish designs. 

6/100: Watercolor Crayons/Blocks + Artist's Choice (Grids)

Today's dice roll involved using a variety of watercolor and water-soluble blocks to create a gridwork of marked lines:

Black/Charcoal on White Pimatex PFD (top down)

1. Caran D'Ache Neocolor II (top right)

2. Derwent Inktense Block (bottom right)

3. Stabilo Woody 3 in 1 Multi-talented pencil (bottom left)

4. Lyra Water-soluble graphite (top right)

5. Art Graf Graphite Stick (bottom right)

6. Derwent Graphite (bottom left)

White Marks on Black Pimatex PFD (top down)

1. Stabilo Woody 3 in 1 Multi-talented pencil (top right))

2. Caran D'Ache Neocolor II (bottom right)

3. Derwent Inktense Block (bottom left)

Process for Experimenting with Application of Mark Making:

1. Left side: Make marks on dry fabric (top left) and then dip brush in water and brush along marked lines (top right)

2. Right side: Spritzed fabric with water, make marks (top right), use brush, and apply more marks and brush (bottom right)

3. Air dry, heat set with hot-dry iron (bottom left)

Confession: I may need to repeat parts of this experiment as I started out very light-handed, but started to apply more pressure when marking the lines. Additionally, some of the later fabrics were still very damp when I went to heat set with hot-dry iron, which may have altered the finished look. Either way, I learned a lot from the process and love these grids!!

7/100:  Textile Paints + Sunprinting

Today's sunny San Jose, CA forecast provided the perfect opportunity to sunprint. Each 10" square was soaked in water and wrung out prior to being painted with Ebony Silk & Fabric Paint by ProChemical & Dye. Pressed vinyl mats with a variety of textures and patterns were placed on top and left to air dry. 

Thankfully the sun is not required as a large palm tree blocked its rays just as I finished painting!! A few leftover squares were painted, salted, folded, ironed a bit too early, and/or baked in our toaster oven ...perhaps a minute or two too long...Oops!!

Here are all 16 sunprinted and painted fabrics with their fabulous black & white textures.

These 49 squares represent nearly 3.5 yards of mark making!! Luckily I ordered a bolt of Dharma's Pimatex PFD 45" wide in both white and black so I have plenty to last for all 100 Days!

I'd love to know which products and/or techniques are on your list to try. Stay tuned for more mark-making experiments and explorations ahead! I'll be posting daily to Instagram and then weekly updates here on the blog.