Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Batiks

Batik is a cloth that uses wax-resist dyeing technique. The traditional colours back in the day were indigo, dark brown, and white, which represented the three major Hindu Gods. There were also certain patterns that could only be worn by nobility, or higher ranked society.There are numeral types of wax that can be used. Beeswax, paraffin wax, and resins are the most common. As for the fabric, it is usually imported to the United States from Indonesia.
There are also numerous methods of applying the resist to fabric. The tree most common are:
  1. using a jaunting tool - this helps for free hand drawing each line and dot in the design.
  2. using a metal tap - design
  3. using a sponge of brush
Mariam Webster Definition: "batik (n): a fabric printed by an Indonesian method of hand-printing textiles by coating with wax the parts not to be dyed".

With my experiences with batiks I have figured that they are more complicated then many other types of art. A great tip for making a good batik is that sometimes the wax doesn't always soak all the way into the cloth, so make sure it does. If you are not in advanced crafts then you are not aloud to use a dropper, so start with light colors. If you are able to use a dropper though, DO IT!! It makes life easier. In all though get a great design and just experiment and learn from it.

 My Batik


  
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6 comments:

  1. Maximum Ride Book SeriesJanuary 19, 2011 at 10:18 AM

    This type of art is so cool. I was wondering if i could use the wax technique for a design on a tye dye shirt? I would assume it would work just like the batik.

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  2. MaggieJanuary 19, 2011 at 12:30 PM

    You're picture is so pretty! You're such a great artist!

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  3. Bronc45January 20, 2011 at 1:27 PM

    I still have my batik hanging in my room. I wasn't aware that batiks were used to honor the Hindu gods. Batiks are an awesome art project!!! Good choice of a presentation.

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  4. Kym-ba-beeJanuary 22, 2011 at 12:58 PM

    I love this picture. I like the fact that you can write about art and explain the background a little. I would never have guessed art had to do with the gods.

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  5. Mrs. RohlaJanuary 23, 2011 at 9:29 AM

    Very interesting! I've never tried this kind of art before. What kind of cloth is it, some type of cotton blend? What is a dropper, and why should lighter colors be used without it? Would people traditionally dye whole sections of cloth and then cut it into clothes, or make the clothes, then dye it?

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  6. RheonaJanuary 25, 2011 at 7:53 AM

    I just finished my batik last week. I am very proud of it, but I had a hard time with the wax dripping in places I didn't want it to. I see that you handled the wax very well, without even using a dropper.

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