Waxing off Batik & Making Corrections

 REMOVING WAX FROM BATIK

You need to look at the blog from Nov. 21, 2024 to see instructions for removing the wax from your batik.

https://dearingcampbell.blogspot.com/2024/11/   

If the link doesn't work, just go to the blog sidebar, find November, 2024, and it should come up for you. In this blog, it recommends FREEZING after your final wax. We did not do that in class this time because the paper was a bit brittle, and I didn't want it to completely fall apart. But normally, I freeze it for 5 minutes to get some good crevices. 

After you get all the wax off, you can glue the picture to a piece of watercolor paper (don't need an expensive brand). You can use just Elmer's if you don't care if your piece is archival. I usually will use YES paste, matte medium gel, or something more permanent, since I either show or sell mine.

When it is completely dry, you can use other mediums to "fix" problems in the painting.

USING THE RICE PAPER

If there is a place that is too dark, you can tear pieces of the rice paper to patch it using some matte medium to glue it over the piece. I save scraps from the edges where I cut it down, and use them for patches. You can cut or tear out pieces of the white rice paper to form clouds or other shapes.

If your paper has torn, you can repair it by gluing similarly colored rice paper right over the hole.

On this picture of the light house, I tore out some white paper for clouds. Also, I tore a small piece of blue to lighten one of the edges at the top of the lighthouse, which had gotten darker than I wanted. 

On the picture of the koi, I cut out white fish shapes and added to the painting. 

WATERCOLORS

Once your painting is adhered to paper, it should take watercolor, and you should have some more control over the edges. Before trying adjustments with other media, try the watercolor first, especially if painting over a light area.

INKTENSE STICKS AND PENCILS

Inktense pencils (made by Derwent) are like watercolor pencils, but more intense. You can sometimes cover a dark area with them, even adding some white. The sticks allow you to cover a larger space quickly, while the pencils can be used on smaller spaces.

PASTELS

Since the paper has so much texture, you can often rub the side of pastel sticks over it to create texture, or to break up a dull area.  You can also try oil pastel sticks. I've never used them, but that doesn't mean you can't.

PEN & INK

For adding very dark fine lines, you can use brown or black ink using a dip pen, or the glass dip pens. You can also use fine permanent pens. 

POSCA PENS

I like to use these acrylic pens for trouble spots, especially if small, like putting in a mouth, or adding a white highlight to the eyes. Posca pens can be used light over a dark area. The drawback to these is that they have a very opaque look, and might alter the transparent look of the watercolor, so use sparinghly.

In this picture of the turtle, you can see I used acrylic pens around the eyes and mouth and cheeks. They are noticably more opaque. 

GOUACHE

I have also used gouache to add some needed color or white. Again, these are more opaque, so I used sparingly.

WHITE GEL PEN

These are for very fine white markings.

METALLIC PAINTS

These are fun for giving areas an extra pop.