Fun With Lark Brandt and Batik

ON September 27, Lark Brandt led a workshop on painting watercolors on daphne paper and using wax and India ink to produce a batik like effect.
The six of us - Marcia, Jeanne, Mary, Carol, Linda and Livia had so much fun.
The paintings went onto the daphne paper (from Nepal), which came in three weights/thicknesses. We "saved" some of the natural paper's color by dripping wax here and there on it. Lark is at above at left with an example of her work.
After saving some of the natural color we painted flowers, chickens, landscapes and faces with watercolor paint. We then let these paintings dry by hanging them up. After they were dry we could then take them back over to the hot pot of melted wax and "save" some of the colors we wanted to keep because the next step was painting them with black India ink. Oh, and before that, we rolled them up and pinched them so the paint would seep through those cracks and give the paintings a batik effect.
So here is one of my paintings getting rolled up so it will "crackle."
Next is the scary thing - to paint it all over with ink.
You can see the eyes of my lady's face - she's not quite believing what I've done to her! And I can't say I blame her. But have faith. Sometimes things turn out better than expected and one of the fun things about a lot of art techniques is "unexpected consequences." Many times, when we can't really control the medium, or try something "weird," we come up with something beautiful - or at least interesting.
This next step used up quite a few telephone book pages while we ironed out the wax to reveal the finished product. Here she is!
There were many great paintings turned out that Saturday and we were all surprised at how much fun it was. We learned a lot and before we forget exactly how we did it we should try it again. We are hoping Lark will consider teaching another class at Valley Art. If you get a chance, take this instruction from her. I guarantee you will have the time of your life - just playing away! (Remember: You can click on the photos and see them larger.)
Above, at the right, I hope, is a slideshow of the day. Enjoy!