Silk Painting - Applying Gutta - how to apply Gutta in Silk Painting

Basic Instruction for Applying Gutta

This topic covers the basic information you will need to use both spirit-based and water-based guttas. These substances can be tricky to master at first. Gutta gives you control over the way in which the paint moves on the fabric better than any other method of outlining, with perhaps the exception of wax in a tjanting applicator. The advantage of gutta is that it is far easier to apply than wax. You can start painting using clear spirit-based gutta because this is the easiest to use and can be removed after you have finished your
painting. This can be a big help if you have made blobby lines. At least they will not remain sticky, even if you do still have thick white lines at the end of your project.

Materials

Applicator pen

Books to prop your design up to the level of the silk, or tape to attach the designto the back of the silk, if you are tracing Bottlebrush, of the size used to clean the teat on a baby's bottle

Bottle of gutta

Cotton buds (2-3)

Eye-dropper

Gutta pen nib – size 6 for thin lines, on habutai and other smooth silk; size 7 for medium lines, on lightweight to medium-weight silk; size 8 for thick lines on any silk ( always use size 8 for very thick silk)

Medium-sized paintbrush

Metal nail file, if the gutta pen nib is rough

Pipe-cleaners (2 or 3)

Ruler, if you want a straight border

Wooden skewer or other stirring implement which will fit in the pen

Shellite or white spirit, up to 150 mL (1/3 pt), if you are using spirit-based gutta

Small funnel to fit into the open neck of the gutta pen

Small jar with a lid

Small strip of a masking tape

Small wire sieve or tea-strainer, if you are using water-based gutta

Stanley knife or razor blade, if you are using a new applicator pen

Water, up to 150 mL (1/3 pt), if you are using water-based gutta

Fine wire, 5 cm (2 in), or a pin to insert in the nib

Materials (silk on a frame, designs)

Small frame with silk stretched on it, to use for testing

Spirit-Based Gutta

When you buy it, spirit-based gutta always needs diluting, and for clear gutta you may need to add up to half as much again of white spirit or Shellite. If your gutta has been sitting on yourself for even few days, it may need up to this much diluting again before you use it. Black, silver and gold gutta will also need thinning occasionally, but not as much, because dilution will make the color thinner as well. You can always re-use the gutta you have diluted provided that you store it in a sealed bottle. If it becomes thick and gluggy, add
more spirit and shake it vigorously then let it sit for an hour or two, stir it up with a wooden skewer, add more spirit and shake it until you achieve a workable consistency.

The most common problem with outlining is the gutta which has not been diluted enough. This will cause it to sit on the surface rather than sink into the fibres and form a wall to prevent the paint from passing through. The paint will just bleed and ruin your painting.
Gradually add small amounts of spirit to ensure that you do not over-dilute your whole supply of gutta and have to wait for it to evaporate down to a useable consistency. The process of evaporation can take a day or so unless you have a warm sunny spot in which to sit the solution to hurry things along.

The gutta should be the consistency of heated-up honey. If you have the right dilution, the gutta should not run out without your squeezing the pen a little. If you do your diluting in the pen, then you can easily test the consistency of the gutta mix.

Remember that thicker silks need a thinner dilution of gutta and possibly a nib with larger hole.

To dilute spirit-based gutta and fill the pen:

Pour about 2 cm of gutta into the applicatoe pen, through a small funnel if you are concerned not to spill it.

Use an eye-dropper to add about 1 cm of spirit.

Shake the pen vigorously( remember to put your thumb over the hole, so you do not get gutta decorating the ceiling).

Repeat this process until the pen is full

Screw the nozzle onto the pen.

If you are using a new applicator pen, you may need to shave small pieces off the tip of the nozzle to make the nib fir. You will also need to cut off the end of the nozzle, just enough to make sure that the hole is open.

Push or screw the nib onto the end of the nozzle.

Seal the nib onto the nozzle with masking tape. Make sure that it is tightly fitted so that gutta does not leak around the join.

Remove the wire from the nib and put it in a safe place.

Water Based Gutta

These needs less dilution than the spirit-based ones, as they have much slower evaporation rate. Most can be used straight from the bottle without dilution, for quite long intervals. Water-based guttas are harder to use than spirit-based ones as they tend to bubble and squirt. They can be made easier by adding about 1 cm of spirit-based gutta to the mix as you are filling up the gutta pen and shaking long and vigorously to get these two incompatible substances to mix. Minimise bubbling and clogging by pouring the gutta through a small wire sieve or tea-strainer into a funnel inserted into the gutta pen.

To dilute water-based gutta and fill the pen:

Follow steps 1-9 above, except that at step

Pour the gutta through a small wire sieve or tea- strainer, as well as
through a funnel.

Add 1 cm spirit-based gutta, not plain spirit, to the pen. Do this without using an eye-dropper, as the gutta would clog the dropper.