Studio notes: hand painted spots on fabric - pencils on linen

One of the fun things about hand painting your own fabric, is doing all different styles of working and using un-expected supplies and tools. I’m loving using my special coloured pencils for this spotty fabric. It’s a totally different way of working than with regular paint.

I treated my fabric before I started working on this, and then drew directly onto the fabric. Circles and spots with build up of hues to create a little bit of rhythm in it.

It’s a little bit hard to draw onto the fabric, and some fabrics and even pencils will be easier than others. Depending on the weave of the fabric, some will have slub that your pencil will need to work deeper into. That’s part of the lovely part of this process - using what you have, and working with your materials and tools.

You do need to make sure the pencils stay on the fabric, so have to paint a special fabric medium on top of the pencil.

On top of the pencil circles I’ve used little pieces of found objects, rather than regular paint brushes. Making flowers that remind me of wild blooms - sometimes I spot roadside patches of giant weeds with big sunny faces that look like daisies or sunflowers, yet are neither.

I’ll be stitching onto these flowers. And then plan on making a quilt with it.

But I’ve also sewn some into little zippered purses.

Such delight - I can’t wait to share these purses as gifts. You can make your own through the teachings in my course here.

Hand painted spots using watercolour paint, and printed with found tools rather than regular paint brushes. These designs will become a quilt.