From drawing to watercolor and oil painting, then the painting on fabric and, as a natural evolution, came silk. In this learning process, with stages increasingly complex, from an economic material to a noble tissue, I passed them almost without noticing it.
The painting techniques on silk are very versatile, there are many different forms, from the abstract design that does not need neither brush nor frame, to the naturalistic painting that pampers the detail.
There are a lot of artists and artisans that work with silk in many different ways, and, among all of them, a painter who has influenced my way of working is Ute Patel-Missfeldt: her images on silk are cheerful and show a great sense of humor, the drawings did attract my attention and, reading most of her books, I discovered the technique of painting on glass that she invented, and this made it possible for me to paint silk in a naturalist way.
At the other end of the wide range of techniques of coloring silk is the shibori: a Japanese dyeing technique that had been invented 1,200 years ago. The first designs I saw thrilled me and I immediately had to buy a book to show me how to procure them. Part of the magic of this way of painting is that I'm never quite sure of what I'll find when I deploy the fabric, making it more exciting, although little by little I get the results that I am looking for.
I still have some drawings I did in college to work a free theme: it was my first set of drawings, and called it "The school with the passage of time". I felt very proud when my teacher told me he wanted to buy them for what for me was a small fortune at age 16.
I did not dare to study Fine Arts, however, I have always found my "Neverland" in drawing and painting.
For many years I was dedicated almost exclusively to oil painting, but as the space on the walls was ending, I have cultivated other techniques.
The painting on fabric was a great discovery: what about giving another style to a pair of jeans?
One thing led to another and by testing different materials, I came to silk.
Painting on silk is much like watercolor, a medium that I discovered when I started to travel because of my job: a small box of watercolors and small format papers can be taken anywhere.
Since 2001 I paint in silk and until recently it was a private pleasure, limited to personal use, gifts for family and friends. But in 2013 I began to study the possibility of selling my paintings on silk. I did a little market research visiting museums and shops. When the Balenciaga Museum in Getaria showed interest in my work and asked me for some samples, I made the decision to launch into the adventure of working as a silk and fabric painter. Immediately I participated in my first craft fair, the 35th Craft Fair of the Basque Country in Renteria in 2013.In this site you will find a small sample of my passion, I hope you'll enjoy it and, if you feel like getting in contact, I'd love to know your opinion.
Davit Amunarriz
Silk tissues were first developed in ancient China, and some evidence suggests that were made around year 3,000 BC, although the strongest evidence of the use of silk dates from year 1,300 BC. Legend says that by then the Empress of China Xi Ling -Shi (Hsi- Ling -Shih, Lei -tzu) wore silk dresses.
At the beginning silk was reserved exclusively for members of the Chinese imperial family, both for their own use and to be given away as gift. But over time, given their increasing use by Chinese culture, the production extended to other parts of Asia, both geographically and socially. Silk rapidly became a luxury product appreciated by traders because of its texture and luster, besides being a very accessible and convenient to carry product. That is why the demand of silk increased, becoming a standard product of pre-industrial international trade.
In 2,007 some archaeologists discovered in a tomb in Jiangxi parts of a dress whose silk fibers were closely woven and dyed, dated around the time of the Zhou Dynasty, from about 2500 years ago.
In the Middle Age the art of Sericulture spread throughout Europe, however, is in the Far East where its development was higher.
The process of producing silk starts when the butterfly lays 300 to 600 eggs in the course of seven days. Worms have to eat large quantities of mulberry to become adults in about 32 days.
The spinning of silk consists on winding the thread of the cocoon as it's done with as skein of would. Cocoons are immersed in water at 90 °, then brush the outside to find out the string and in a bowl of water at 40/50º ropes together eight cocoons.
The normal length of thread is 600 to 1,200 meters, but in some cases can reach 4000 meters.
Silk is a natural conitnuous filament (the only fiber that Nature provides yarn) is a solid fiber withj a regular diameter.
Because is such an expensive fiber, the use of the material is maximized; once the filament yarn, waste (empty cocoons, remains of winding filament, ...) are treated to be reyarn, and the last remains, unusable for spinning, are used for making batts and other fillings.
Silk is a continuous, fine and lustrous fiber which for centuries has been considered the queen of fibers: in the past there were periods in which the silk, due to its rarity, was considered a luxury item highly prized.
Silk fibers have a triangular cross section with rounded corners. This reflects the light at different angles giving to silk a special glow.
It has a soft and smooth, not slippery, unlike synthetic fibers.
It brings together a unique combination of properties that do not have any other fiber: dry touch, natural glow, good moisture absorption, good falling qualities, high strength, hypoallergenic.
Silk is one of the strongest natural fibers but loses up to 20% of its strength when wet. It is said that a silken cord as thick as a pencil would be able to stop a Boeing 747 in flight.
Elasticity ranges from moderate to poor: if stretched beyond a certain limit of strength, it takes a while to regain his previous form.
It is a sensitive tissue to sunlight, being able to undermine its structure when exposed to to much sun. Is also particularly vulnerable to the action of insect , especially moths, if it is dirty.
Upon contact with the skin produces a warm feeling from the first moment, the fall is better than any other fiber, resists acids but not strong alkali: chlorine damages it, bleached with hydrogen peroxide.
Silk is a very durable natural tissue when properly cared.
Washing
Painted silks may be hand washed in cold water, without rubbing and without twisting, using silk and wool detergent (a few drops). Do not allow the silk too get to dirty to clean the silk with a light wash. Silk should not be soaked. It's normal that tissues give off some colour: this is the leftover of paint the fabric is unable to absorb.
I recommend to add some colorless vinegar in the final rinse so that the colours revive. Ideally, the fabrics are not touching each other so that the colours can not pass from one to another. I recommend to put the silk in a towel to remove moisture and then board. If it is a blouse I recommend to put a towel between the layers so that the color does not cross. All scarves can be dry cleaned with caution as long as there are no metallic colours on the workpiece.
Drying
Do not wring or twist, or use the dryer to dry the silk. A good method is to dry the silk between two towels to drain it, leaving it to air dry horizontally. Avoid that parts of fabrics touch each other while the dry as they may discolour.
Ironing
The ironing of silk is easier if the silk is still slightly damp. Silk should be ironed quickly at medium temperature (between 100 and 160° C), without pressing too much.
Storage
Silk should be stored rolled so that the fibers do not suffer the folds and so they do not break. Similarly, using silk scarves, avoid tightening the knots.
If the tissue is to be stored for a long time, you must protect it from light and insects. The silk can keep rolled in a tube in a dry and cool place, avoid using plastic bags because it will impede breathing.
Según se teja la seda, se pueden obtener los siguientes tipos de tejidos:
- Pongé, pongée o habotai: en el telar casero chino, denominado pen-shi, de ahí su nombre, se confeccionaba una tela de seda de mediana calidad. En Europa, el pongé es un tafetán de seda: un tejido blanco, ligero y un poco brillante, de trama simple y peso variable, textura lisa y tupido. Asequible y suave, el vapor y el lavado en seco mejoran su brillo y su tacto. Es el más común para pintar y tiene una buena relación calidad precio.
- Bourrette, seda rústica o borras de seda: tipo de seda de mayor gramaje, resistente, granulosa, basta y sin brillo. Se puede pintar una vez desengomada y blanqueada. Se usa para indumentaria o batiks africanos.
- Shantung o seda cruda: tejido de seda del gusano tasar (*), con ligamento tafetán, que toma su nombre de la provincia china de donde es originario.
- Crepé de Chine: del latín crispus, es decir; ensortijado o rizado. Es un tejido de seda cuya urdimbre está más retorcida que la trama, lo que le confiere un característico aspecto estriado. Su superficie es arrugada y mate y conviene lavar antes una muestra para comprobar si encoge o se arruga.
- Crepé georgette: tiene un aspecto estriado. Su superficie es arrugada y mate y conviene lavar antes una muestra para comprobar si encoge o se arruga.
- Dupion: seda natural del gusano tasar (*), brillante, de color crudo, textura basta y rígida con hilos irregulares que dificultan el tinte. Se usa para cortinas, mantillas y vestidos de ceremonia.
- Organza: tipo de seda con ligamento tafetán ligera y con trama abierta. Tiene poca caída y mucho apresto debido a que su filamento conserva la sericina.
- Muaré o moaré: del francés moiré. Tejido que da la impresión de llevar marcas de agua, efecto que se obtiene al someterlo a presión por medio de cilindros grabados con el dibujo que se quiere obtener.
- Twill: tejido de sarga, seda muy suave, de trama muy tupida, muy resistente. Muy popular en la época del Modernismo.
- Satén, satín o raso: del francés satin, del italiano satino y éstos del bajo latín seta, seda, serica, pelo de seda. El satén se teje en seda, de tacto grueso y suave, su aspecto es de un brillo comparable sólo a algunos terciopelos.
- Crepé satín: el crepé satín muestras las características del satin por un lado y las del crepé por el otro. Tiene una gran caída lo que hace que sea un tejido ideal para pañuelos, fulares y vestimenta.
- Gasa: de Gaza, ciudad de Siria. Transparencia muy ligera, sutil, fina y de gran suavidad, caracterizada por la poca densidad de los hilos de urdimbre y trama. No se debe escurrir y se plancha a baja temperatura, cuando esté casi seca.
- Jacquard: las telas están tejidas formando dibujos. Debe su nombre al fabricante francés Joseph Marie Jacquard, que a principios del siglo XIX inventó un telar con el que se pueden realizar tejidos de dibujos sumamente elaborados con gran facilidad e incluso de distintos colores. Se usó para brocados y damascos.
(*) Gusano tasar: que se cría en libertad en la llamada sericultura silvestre o forestal, comiendo hojas distintas de la de morera, y que agrupa a diferentes especies
Phrases such as "rather be dead than plain" make it clear that everyone likes to be a little different. I started painting clothes to get out of the apparent uniformity of the clothes we buy in any store, what is now called customization.
Years ago a colleague, who had seen me with my jeans painted, asked me a favor: she had a drop of bleach in her new trousers and asked me if I could save her. The spot was very small and I painted an oak leaf: the problem was solved, my friend was so delighted that she told me she was going to a matching t-shirt (an excuse as any to go shopping), however, she could not make me greater compliment.
I've used trees' leaves design many times, occasionally a face appears among the leaves, a "greenman".
I usually paint in the cultural centre of my village surrounded with lots of friends as anxious as I am to have spent some time to painting and, of course, chatting.
During the period of time it took to paint the series of two pictures of the cathedral and the crypt (left and right respectively), I enjoyed very much entering the classroom and finding some kids in front of my pictures watching and discussing what had changed since the last time. As I enjoy looking at the details and painting items the size of a drop, the kids had problems to find the changes, and when I pointed out, for example, a gargoyle or a faun, they heard open-mouthed my explanations and even suggested to add other beings such as the three-headed dog from Harry Potter´s last movie they had just seen.
Like them, I like the pictures where to look for details, so maybe because of that, the painters who have inspired me more are Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Bosch and Pieter Bruegel the Elder.
I take advantage of this small space to thank all fellows of my painting group and especially to Juan Berrospe, our guide and teacher, the good times we spent in the company of Paint.
Painting has always made me feel at ease anywhere in the world, though not all painting techniques are equally portable: to travel with an oils case is somewhat awkward, however, watercolor and a notebook of paper the size of a postcard fit in any bag. Even when I go to see my family, painting is always presente; my godson loves medieval markets with knights in shining armor. The first time he went to the medieval market of Telgte in Germany, he was amazed with the camp of men who lived exactly as in the Middle Ages: in big tents around large fires and lots of interesting things everywhere. The best of all was to be able to try a real knight helmet, regardless of weight and size. What can be more exciting for a 6 years old child!.
We could not miss a memory of that day, we took lots of pictures, he keeps them in a CD, and I made a cover with a knight with his helmet and feathers painted in watercolor: the nicest thing for me was that my godson liked so much the watercolor that asked me to go painting with me and we spent several afternoons sitting quietly imagining things from the Middle Age.
Watercolor is a light and relatively fast to paint media, it does not require too many things and can be practiced almost anywhere. My work has led me to travel quite a lot and the watercolor has been the to keep painting everytime I had a free moment without carrying too many stuf. I especially like the illustrations of animals in the most realistic possible way.
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We've all drawn at the school: at the beinning just for fun, to tell stories. Then we draw in school learning perspective, technical drawing, calligraphy, ... and almost all at once we leave the school we stop drawing, I am not an exception. I would have completely abandoned drawing and perhaps painting, but one day I saw that the artistic club of my village organized a weekend of "drawing with nude model". I was interested in the subject and I didn´t have any other plans, so I signed up and I realized how much I like to draw. Everything I do is based on drawing, but it is the children who make me draw for hours and I keep with lots of love the drawings that my nephews and the daughters of a friend give me. By the way, one of them made a drawing especially with the request of transforming it into a silk scarf. The pencil drawing is the basis for everything I do and I need to train continuously to improve my technique. |
I use different techniques to paint silk but all starts with the design on paper. There are fast techniques with very striking effects like the use of salt. These effects are nice for scarves or blouses, but the design itself is important in my work.
Paint flows on silk, without a complete control on free paint, so each piece is unique. Although I use my work for clothing, they resemble to paintings, unique and unrepeatable.
The shibori technique is mainly applied to garments and cloth cuts. The term is of Japanese origin and means dyeing by locking. The technique some areas of the material to prevent it from being dyed.
Blocking can be done in several different ways by binding, stitching, folding, twisting, compressing, or capping. The blocking material may be used in sequence to achieve a multicolor effect.
