Fabric Painting

Fabric Painting is not a recent phenomenon, as is commonly believed; in fact the most ancient instance of fabric painting can be dated back to as early as 3000 B.C. Printing blocks belonging to that period has been found in Asia.

Alexander, who invaded India in around 327 B.C, is said to have been mesmerized by the variety and color of theFabric Painting of the region. The development of trade route ensured that this art form traveled to different parts of the world.

China and Japan too were involved in innovations with the technique much before rest of the world discovered it. The Chinese invented the resist and stencil metho d.

Today many other techniques of fabric paintings have been developed around the world; 

batik, 

tie-dye, and shibori are just some of them.

Batik

Wax and dye combine to produce magic on cloth, and the magic is known as “Batik Painting”. Batik literally mean

“wax writings”

 in Javanese and is believed to have originated in the island of Java, Indonesia, however India too would like to stake claims to what has now become a very Indian art form, moreover it cannot be denied that

Batik painting 

got a new lease of life after its revival in the art schools of Shantiniketan, (Calcutta).

The “wax resist' technique used in this art form makes it both unique and viable. The artistic freedom that the medium offers makes it an approachable art form.

The making of a Batik Painting involves three integral stages-that of waxing, dyeing and dewaxing (removing the wax).

Dyed Fabric Painting

The play of color on fabric, to create unique patterns in enticing shades. Dyed fabric painting is indeed one of the most appealing styles of painting. It is also perhaps the most unpredictable and hence the most versatile, because a large part of the process of painting is not controlled by the artist himself.

He can resist the movement of color, but he cannot control it. What we have, then, is a harmony of hues, with a will of their own.

There are several styles in which fabric may be dyed, and each of these has become and independent type of painting.

• Batik Painting
• Tie-Dye Painting
• Shibori

Tie-Dye Painting

As the name suggests, in the process of tie-dye, portions of the fabric are tied with strings or rubber bands, after it folded in a particular manner. When the fabric is dyed, the protected portions remain uncolored, thus creating beautiful patterns. Some of the most common designs created are the spiral, bulls-eye, striped, ‘V’ shape or a random pattern.

The process of dyeing the fabric may involve dipping the cloth in a tub of dye; in this case, the process is called dip-dyeing. Or the fabric may be dyed by squirting the color, spraying it, or using a brush. In this case, the process is called direct application.

One particular tradition of the tie-dye form of dyed fabric painting, is Shibori.

Shibori is the Japanese form of tie-dye painting. It involves stitching, binding, folding, or compressing the fabric, to resist the dye, and create patterns. In the traditional shibori style, called arashi shibori, a narrow and long kimono cloth is wound around a 12 ft long wooden pole. This cloth is then wound with a thread. When it is scrunched and compressed on the pole, the thread creates creases on the cloth. This cloth is then dyed on the pole, in a large vat. Depending on how tight and how many times the cloth is bound, or the manner in which it is drawn up and puckered, different motifs are created. In kanoko shiburi, the cloth is puckered using the fingertips or nails or a small hook. The other forms of shibori are suji (pleated), nui (stitch resist), miura (looped), kumo (pleated and bound resist).

Charcoal Painting

Charcoal is the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is used in art for drawing making rough sketches in painting, and is one of the possible media for making a parsemage. It must usually be preserved by the application of a fixative.

Artists generally utilize charcoal in three forms:

Vine charcoal

Vine charcoal is created by burning sticks of wood (usually willow or linden/Tilia) into soft, medium, and hard consistencies. Bamboo charcoal is the principal tool in Japanese Sumi-e ( charcoal drawing) art.

Compressed Charcoal

Compressed charcoal is charcoal powder mixed with gum binder compressed into round or square sticks. The amount of binder determines the hardness of the stick. Compressed charcoal is used in charcoal pencils.

Powdered Charcoal

Finely powdered charcoal is often used to "tone" or cover large sections of a drawing surface. Drawing over the toned areas will darken it further, but the artist can also lighten (or completely erase) within the toned area to create lighter tones.

Charcoal and Pencil

The main difference between drawing with a pencil and charcoal is that charcoal leaves a track that is darker, velvety and it can be spread much easier and finer. Both natural and artificial charcoal is used. Natural charcoal is a stick of wooden charcoal with precisely defined characteristics suitable for very fine drawing.

Charcoal Drawing

The drawing starts out by outlining the whole composition. The basic feature of work with charcoal is its ability to spread on the drawing surface and the creation of soft transitions.