08/03/2021
Fabric Painting: Do’s & Don’ts
PART-III
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DO PRACTICE AND EXPERIMENT
There are many techniques for fabric painting, including free-painting acrylics, stencils, blocking and stamping, wet painting, and spray painting. If this is a new medium for you, the best way to figure out how to achieve the effect that you want with your artwork is to practice and experiment on fabric scraps and pieces. This will help you get a grasp on how much you can layer your paint, what kind of control you will have over it, and the kind of shading that will help your designs to pop.
Not only is practicing essential but it also gives you the chance to test out your paints. Testing is a crucial step, considering that different formulas of fabric paint will react very differently to the same fabric. At the same time, even if you have become accustomed to using one particular fabric paint, the type of fabric matters as well. Different fabrics will accept, absorb, bleed, or react to your usual paint in different ways.
DON’T BE IMPATIENT WHEN THE PAINT IS DRYING
Before trying to move or adjust the painted fabric, it’s very important to allow it to dry completely. If you’ve painted the fabric while wet or if you have many layers of paint, this could take a while. Drying time can be a particularly important consideration for those who intend to flip the fabric or garment and paint on the other side.
Additionally, different fabric paints will have different requirements for finishing the painting process. For example, some fabric paint requires you to heat set the paint when finished. Other kinds of fabric paint might require a cool rinse, once the paint has dried completely.
DO TAKE INSPIRATION FROM LINE ART AND EMBROIDERY DESIGNS
Common designs for breaking into fabric painting, particularly if you want to add some details to your clothes, include floral art and wreathes, such as those common in embroidery. Designs such as these also make for good outline work, for those who want to work exclusively on fine-line art. Additionally, the designs such as those you might find in a coloring book with clean lines are good candidates for fabric painting.
Learning the art of fabric painting can expand your ability to customize your clothes, crafts, and household items. You can try it with everything from freehand painting, to stenciling, outlining, and printing.
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