Tuesday, November 22, 2011

The Lure of the Resist

I've been experimenting with resists on cloth for the past six years. I think I am drawn to them because they are so enchanting.  You apply the resist and let it dry.  Then you add paint or dye.  At that point, the cloth usually looks very ugly.  But when you wash the cloth, the pattern and texture from the resist appear like magic.

There are so many resists to choose from.  There are a number of commercially available products - waxes, water based resist, washable gel glue.  But my favorites are those made from ingredients in your kitchen - oatmeal, flour, sugar, corn syrup, tapioca and grits.

Working with resists requires an ability to let go of your control impulse.  They can be unpredictable and small changes in the process can have a big impact on the end result.  Below are a few photos of cloth created with a grits resist.  If you would like to try this for yourself, download the grits resist tutorial.

Grits, painted with dye when dry


Grits, painted with dye while still damp


Grits applied with a silkscreen

1 comment:

  1. When you say that the grits were applied with a silkscreen, does that mean that you put the grits on the screen, let them dry, then applied paint or thickened dye through the screen? I love the effect you got.

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