Wedding Dress Commission page 2

5 - I began by spraying the silk with water beforehand because I wanted a very soft flowing feel to the painting. By wetting it first the dyes tend to spread more and you can have a subtle gradation of colors. When I did that the freezer paper began to buckle underneath the silk! EEK! I was worried because I really wanted the freezer paper to stabilize the silk. After applying the dye and the water it looked something like this:

6 - As it turned out it didn't seem to matter much that the paper buckled. The dye flowed around and in and out of the ripples and created a nice effect just as I wanted it to:

7 - I let it dry and my client had her tailor put the dress back together and voila! It really worked out beautifully!

Please don't hesitate to ask any questions about this method and if you have dress or any other silk that you need dyed or painted let me know.