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Simple Guide for Silk Painting Beginners
On the Miu Art Studio YouTube channel, one of the most asked questions is about the supplies, but there are different supplies for different types of silk painting.
Today I am going to make a list of silk paintings that don’t need colour fixing, with the recommended size guide, it will work for any standard picture frame or aperture greeting cards, without the hassle of fixing the colour, which also means this type of silk painting can’t be washed, but it will work perfectly for wall decoration like other paintings. You can use the list to set up a home silk studio for a hobby or prepare for a small party activity to do with friends or family even more start your own workshop for businesses.
This list works the best for silk paintings that will be framed to the standard A5, A4 Frames
- Pins & Cardboard
- Water-based Gutta and nibs
- Silk dyes and dropper
- Pallet/ice tray
- Paint brushes
- 100% pure silk
- Freeze paper
- Iron
- Standard frame/aperture card/mount
- Double-sided tapes
Pins & Carboard
You can use paper pins or silk pins; They are for holding the corners and providing a flat surface while you painting. (Caution: do not use for food after it is used for silk dye)
Water-based Gutta & nibs
Gutta is a common resistance that can stop silk dye to spread. I highly recommend it to beginners who wish to do silk art more than silk craft because it will allow complex designs, and separate the colours or shades of silk painting. Apply nibs to apply fine lines for the design.
Silk Dyes and Droppers
Silk dyes are categorized by their colour-fixing method, which includes iron-fix and steam-fix. However, for today’s project, it doesn’t matter which one you use. Droppers are optional but can be helpful for picking up and mixing colours. They are especially useful if you need to add a precise amount of dye when creating commissioned designs. I will explain more about colour mixing in a future post.
Pallet/icetray & paint brushes
If you don’t have a pallet ice tray will work perfectly for silk dyes. Watercolor paint brushes, or Japanese/Chinese paint brushes. Size guide: small to medium
100% pure silk (silk dye only works on pure nature silk), Freezer paper & Iron
Habotai 8 silk is the perfect weight for this type of silk painting and will hold enough paint to show the variation.
Freeze paper is handy for testing colors for bigger projects, and making drafts and also it can save to hassle to make/ordering silk painting frames for small-size silk paintings.
Iron is used to stick silk on frozen paper
Standard frame/aperture card/mount and double-sided tapes
It’s better to get the frame & mount first before you cut the silk and freeze paper to the standard size. Whatever sizes you decided for the silk painting, add a 0.5-1cm border to the silk for frame use.
Double-sided tape, scissors, Kitchen tower/cotton rugs and Water Jar
If you want to experience silk painting fun without the hassles of preparation, check out Mius silk painting workshop kit, the kit is hand-made from the studio. A pre-recorded workshop tutorial by the artist will guide you step by step to use the kit and accomplish your first stunning silk painting.
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