At the International Silk Painting Festival [in Chambon-sur-Lignon, France - June 2007], I attended several workshops and tried lots of techniques - I was in heaven :-)
One of the techniques I'd heard about for years but never got around to trying is the use of two types of dyes on the one fabric which has 'piles' or 'tufts'. The velvet pile has shapes cut out of it, and the backing fabric is different to the velvet pile, which means you can paint each with a different colour.
What is it?
The brand is called AlterEgo, and is a dye which only colors silk - it is is combined in a single dyebath [or painted direct onto fabric] with another type of dye, Procion, which colors both silk and rayon. The results are amazing - you can see one colour on the silk backing and another colour on the rayon pile/plush. You can see this in wonderful combos when used on silk/rayon velvet scarves, especially if the devoré technique has been used to create a pattern on the velvet.
An arty friend of mine regularly makes winter scarves using this technique, but instead of painting by hand [like I do] she puts the velvet in a saucepan and pours the two colours in.
Now I know you'll find this hard to believe - but the colours DO NOT mix together. When she removes the velvet, the backing takes on one colour and the velevet pile has taken on the second colour. How cool is that?
Back to France ...
The workshop I attended was a lot of fun - our Tutor is a well-known French textile designer and silk artist, who designs for some of the most well-known fashion houses and designers in France. We experimented and played with multiple layers using hot wax on the velvet after each applicaion of colour [from the two types of dyes - AlterEgo & Dupont Silk Dyes].
Above: Applying the hot wax. You can see the bright white of the velvet, and the grey areas are the devoré bits where the velvet has been 'eaten away'.
The yellowish areas are the hot wax.
Above: Applying AlterEgo dye and Dupont Silk Dye.
You can see the yellowish wax areas quite clearly, with the green background and the orange second layer. You can do as many layers as you like, using the wax.
Above: Adding final highlights with a bronze liquid [called Nacre - Bronze in French]
The velvet is a thirsty fabric - it soaks up a LOT of dye, so be prepared for that. The cost of the AlterEgo dyes is quite high when compared to the usual silk dyes, but the results are well worth it.
Final note - it was faaabulous attending classes in FRENCH and discovering that my understanding was much better than I thought :)Ciao for now
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