Preparation: Designing Your Painting
Think of a design you wish to use before you start. It can be helpful to
make a rough sketch or a true-to-size 'blueprint' which you can trace.
You may wish to trace or copy designs that are available for this
purpose. However, be careful about copyright.
Another idea is to take a photographic slide or transparency and project
it onto a glass door or window; then go outside, put paper against the
glass and trace around the projected image. If you are new to silk
painting, it is advisable to have simple designs. Clear
thick lines and large shapes which are fully enclosed by a line, like
the patterns used for stained glass, are ideal. Geometric shapes,
scribble patterns and even large doodling patterns are all good to start
with. Keep in mind that any open-ended shape, will allow the
paint to bleed past the edge. Remember to suit the size of your design
to the size of the finished object you have in mind. Since obtaining a
smooth background is one of the more difficult things to do, it is a
good idea to make an overall pattern so that you have a lot of separate
areas to fill in, rather than one big space behind your main pattern.
Designing with Borders
It is good to incorporate a border into the design. It helps to ensure
that you do not draw integral parts of your design close to the staple
holes and then have to cut them off. It guards against the problem of
different colours running along the wood on the edge of the
frame and mixing where you do not want them to.
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