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| Markal and stitch over a Gelli Plate Print |
One of my favourite colouring tools for fabric is Markal paintstiks. They are oil based and are
very opaque, so can be used over any colour, unlike dye or Inktense. They come in both matte and iridescent which
is a bit pearlised or slightly metallic.
Now I don’t do glitz, but for some reason, I love the iridescent Markal –
they just bring a bit of a lift to the work. Note: Markal and Shiva are the exact same things.
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| Some of my Markals and short stencil brushes |
I recently wrote a how to use Markals with stencils, which
is in the current edition of Popular Patchwork.
This is an abbreviated version of what is in the magazine.
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| Markals in Popular Patchwork |
You will need fabric, stencil, Markals and a short stencil
brush (a toothbrush is perfect).
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| My Markal Equipment |
1.
Make sure that you have your table covered as
Markals are very permanent!
2.
You need your fabric to stay put, so tape in
place or use some spray baste, like 505.
You also need to hold your stencil in place over the fabric the same
way.
3.
As the paintstik is oil paint, it will form a
skin, which you have to remove to get to the paint, either by rubbing with a
cloth or cut off with a knife.
4.
Load your brush with paint and apply to the
fabric in circular motions.
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| Adding the Markal through a paper stencil |
5.
The colours blend really well and I often add
several colours in a piece. Some people
will blend the colours before apply to the fabric, I prefer to mix on the
fabric so the blend is not too perfect.
6.
Leave to dry – be patient it takes a long time,
like several days. Once dried, iron the
fabric between two layers of baking parchment to make the paint totally
permanent.
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| Hand cut paper stencil |
You can use bought stencils or cut your own. I use both – I like the bought ones when it
is something I couldn’t cut myself and The Crafter's Workshop ones have
generous use policies, so I don’t need to worry about breaking copyright. My own, I cut from heavy photocopy paper with
a scalpel, normally through two layers so I have a spare version. I have used freezer paper as it is good for positioning
as you can iron it on to the fabric.
However, to my cost, I discovered that it does not peel off wet Markal
paint – only use on bare fabric!
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| Markal on top of hand dyed and pieced silk |
There are lots of different ways of using Markals, some more
subtle than others, perhaps that will be for another blogpost.
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| Stencilling through some sequins waste |
4 comments:
Thanks so much for this.
I have used Paintsticks but not much lately and rarely on fabric. This is a great bit of technical info.
My own selection of colours is a bit limited, but I do like the packs of smaller paints (do they still do them) where you get a mix of 3 colours. Because they are so pigment rich and last such a long time I have found this a great way to buy.
Where do you get yours by the way?
Thanks Hilary. I rarely use them on anything other than fabric! Do you mean the tiny stumpy ones? I tend not to buy them as you lose so much each time with the paint forming a skin and I do use them very heavily.
I think most of the usual suspects sell them (Colourcraft, Art Van Go, Rainbow Silks etc) but I've been buying them wholesale recently so I have them to sell at classes.
Hi there, I have just bought a whole set of Markal Paintstiks. Just need to know how to clean my plastic stencil and my
special brush please?
Hi Dennii, you need to treat them as you would treat oil paints, so wash them in turps or white spirit. I tend not to clean my stencils often, but the brushes need to be looked after
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