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
I 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
to 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