Preparation: Washing, Cutting and Attaching the Silk to a Frame
Washing the Silk
Several silks are impregnated with a starchy sizing or stiffening agent.
This can make
the paint sink into the fabric unevenly. Not all silk will have sizing
in it, but it is better to
wash the silk before you attempt to paint on it. You can wash it by hand
for small piece of
silk or wash it in the washing machine and run it through a normal
cold-wash cycle as soon
as you buy it before you cut it up. Use a gentle soap powder, rather
than a harsh detergent.
Rinse the silk thoroughly and hang or attach it to the frame wet and let
it dry there. It will
stretch tightly as it dries if pinned on wet, which provides a good flat
surface to draw on.
Cutting the Silk
- Cut a required size of silk so that it can be attached to the frame on
all sides, with an
overlap of approximately 1 cm (1/2 in).
- The best way to do this is to hold a corner of the frame and gently
stretch the
selvedge side of the silk along one side of the frame to measure the
length.
- Put a 2 cm nick in the silk with the scissors where you want to cut
it. This should
be at a point beyond the outside edge of the frame. Then tear the silk
right across
to the other side.
- Repeat this process to get the right width of the silk piece.
- Cut off any long loose threads from your silk as these can drag
across your
painting and smear it.
Attaching the Silk to the Frame
Silk must be stretched tightly and evenly to ensure stable surface to
paint, and
avoid scalloping of what should be straight gutta lines. But not quite
so tightly if the silk is
wet, because it will shrink a little as it dries and the pins may pop or
the staples tear the silk.
Keep the edge of the silk parallel to the edge of the frame, so that
your silk does not end up
out of shape.
Staple gun is effective to pin the silk onto the frame, available in
hardware sections
and is different from the ordinary stapler used in home or office. Be
careful to place the gun
flush with the silk frame, or staples may fly off in all directions.
Drawing pins can be used as
a substitute.
- Pin or staple one corner first. Stretch and secure the silk about 10
cm
away on either side of the first corner.
- Stretch the silk away from that corner, straight down one of the
sides you
just secured, to the next corner. Secure the silk with pin or staple it
right on
the corner.
- Pin or staple the silk in spaces about 10 cm apart along the side you
just
secured.
- Repeat the process to stretch and pin or staple an adjacent side,
exactly
as you did the first side.
- Stretch the silk onto the last corner by pulling it away from the
diagonally
opposite first corner and secure the silk to that last corner.
- Pin or staple the remaining sides, by stretching and securing the
silk
opposite each pin or staple on the opposite side.
To remove the silk from the frame, just take out the drawing-pins or
staples. If you used
a staple gun, you may prise the staples up with a knife before you can
take them out with
needle-nosed pliers. Be careful that the knife does not slip and go
through the silk. You can
also attach the silk to the frame with a masking tape, but is not always
reliable as it may lift
off when the silk gets wet during painting.
Another way to attach the silk is to sew it on. You can make this a
simpler process by
hammering the nails or placing drawing-pins at intervals into the wooden
frame and using
these as points to wind the thread around as you sew. This ensures that
the silk edge will
not be damaged by large holes from staples or drawing pins.
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