PAINTING...& other stuff.....

Learn Fabric Painting 

Materials Needed:
1. A 1 meter cloth (for practice)
2. A design to paint on the cloth
3. Acrylic colors for fabric/art painting
4. Tracing paper & Carbon paper
5. Paintbrushes of a thin size (1,2,3) & thick size(6,7,8)

Method : 

• First, wash & iron the cloth, before starting. The reason for washing is to remove any sizing added during manufacture of the cloth which prevents the paint from adhering to the cloth. Ironing is to mainly ensure that the cloth is smooth so that the design comes out well.
• Once the cloth is ironed, copy the design on a tracing paper & place the tracing paper over a sheet of carbon paper ( a lighter color carbon is preferred). Place the inked surface of the carbon paper on the cloth & place the tracing paper over it. Slowly trace the design outline from the tracing paper. After the entire design has been traced remove out the carbon & tracing paper. The design will be printed onto the cloth.
• Once the design is on the cloth, start painting using a normal paintbrush & any color of your choice (acrylic colors are preferable).
• Avoid using a lot of water with the paint as the paint spreads quickly across the cloth.
• Mixing colors is quite easy on fabric, it just involves blending. As you practice you will get it.
  
  To watch a video of the same you can check out the following link:
  
  http://video.webindia123.com/crafts/fabricpainting/index.htm

Tips for Fabric Painting :

• Cotton, with a tight weave is mostly preferable as it holds the color firmly. Even silks & synthetics can be used but minimal water should be added to the paint as the paint spreads rapidly, especially on silk.
• The reason for pre-washing fabric before painting on it is to remove any sizing added during manufacture which could prevent the paint from adhering to the cloth. It also gives it a chance to shrink, if it's going to.
• The easiest way to set fabric paints is to iron it for a few minutes. If you iron on the wrong side of the fabric, the paint will still set fine and you don't have to worry about the colors blending into each other. Ironing also helps remove wrinkles from the cloth.
• Ironing after finishing the entire design, gives the design a better look. But don't iron until the design is completely dry.
• Keep the paint bottles in the inverted position to keep them from drying & store them in a dry place. Make sure the lids of the bottles are tightly closed.
• Do not keep the bottles open for long, the paints will dry up. Pour a small amount of the paint on a palette for use.
  
  Hope this information has helped you. To find more designs you can click the following link:
  http://www.fabricpainting.com/

          You can also go through some of my stuff below 

          http://picasaweb.google.com/gogoreensrish