Free Lessons in Silk Painting

For free lessons in silk painting, you might like to watch some of my short videos and read a bit more about silk painting on these pages:

“Help! What do I need to start painting on silk???”

I hear this question a lot, so here is a quick list of what you’ll need:

  • patience and a sense of fun 🙂
  • soft paintbrushes of all sizes
  • Free Lessons in Silk Painting -- thumb tacks, push pinsI use one paintbrush for each colour
  • a tray with paper towel on it – I place a chopstick at the top of the paper towel, and I rest the head of the wet paintbrushes on the chopstick so all the dye isn’t wasted by soaking into the paper towel
  • shiny silk to start out with, I highly recommend Habotai 8mommie, which is very similar to Jap silk – light, not too thick, so the dyes flow beautifully
  • a frame of some kind – I use wood, there are other kinds on the market, you can easily start out with an old picture frame made of wood
  • a way to attach the silk to the wooden frame – I use ‘thumb tacks’ also called ‘push pins’, with plastic ends making them easy to push into the wood, and easy to remove
  • Free Lessons in Silk Painting | How to paint on silk.. Free Lessons in Silk Painting | How to paint on silk with paintbrushesto start with you don’t need to use an outliner (also called “goota” and spelt Gutta, which is a gum-based product), simply let the colours merge and flow
  • silk dyes – buy the smallest bottles to start with, as you will want to experiment and see if you like painting with them – if not, you haven’t wated much money; I use small clear bottles for my dyes so I can easily see the colour as I’m painting, and before I put the paintbrush into the bottle
  • I use 4 tins of tomatoes or cat food (or anything else you have around) to rest the 4 corners of the frame on – this keeps the frame UP OFF THE TABLE so the wet silk doesn’t touch it.  You will see this in many of my videos as it’s the technique I teach my students – and it’s free 🙂
  • do not expect to be an expert on the first attempt – I have now been painting on silk since 1980, and I continue to love to explore new ways to paint on silk and use the products, and I constantly create new designs and themes by allowing my mind to wander, laugh, enjoy every moment of every day.

Most important of all – I hope you enjoy yourself too!!

Here is an example of my free-form silk painting – learning painting on silk can be such a rewarding thing to do, I just adore the bright colours and patterns I can create!

Free Lessons in Silk Painting - orange, turquoise, hot pink silk

Did you enjoy Free Lessons in Silk Painting?

I hope so – if you’d like to make a comment or ask me a question, please fill in my little form – thanks for dropping by!

Cheers
Teena!