Trial 4 of my Inktense shibori experimentation was done on a 2.5 x 3.5” patch of linen, gathered with twelve rows of running stitch, soaked in water, after which I touched the edges with a mixture of blue and green Inktense.

After the gathered cloth dried in the sun, the color definitely looked grainy. A good rinse in cool water and pressing with a hot iron (between layers of scrap cloth) took care of that.

The resulting color looks clearer to me than the trials I did on cotton. And I’m thinking the wicking tendency of linen was also a plus …

I’ll take more process photos next time.

In between making color sample swatches, I tried a little Inktense shibori.

For Trial 1 I gathered up some white cotton, created five wells of straight Inktense color, then dipped the dry gathered cloth into the wells. The end result was “meh” so I overdyed the resulting cloth with the leftover dye water from Trial 2. Still meh …

And so, for Trial 2 I gathered up some more cloth, scraped some blue, green, and yellow Inktense into a glass of water, and dunked the cloth. Better, but kinda light …

Trial 3 was the best of the lot. After gathering the cloth, I soaked it in plain water while prepping three wells of Inktense Mustard+Baked Earth, Shiraz+Ionian Green, and Shiraz+Tangerine. Then I dabbed the dye onto both sides of the gathered cloth and put it out in the Texas sun to dry with Trial 1 and Trial 2. Definitely see potential with this technique …

One last note. After the trials dried in the 103 degree Texas sun, I rinsed them in water and immediately ironed them between paper towels. Hopefully that will help set the colors.

After realizing I had exceeded my media storage, it didn’t take much to decide on the upgraded version of WordPress as the path of least resistance. So here (at last) is the post I began to write earlier.

I’ve been schooling myself in color as a result of Tansy Hargan’s watercolor class. Of course, me being me, I haven’t exactly followed her project directions. Rather, I watched how she does what she does and then went off to try my own version.

First I purchased a 24-color set of Inktense blocks, two ceramic palettes, and some paint brushes. Then I ironed pieces of white cotton cloth to freezer paper and marked grids of twenty-four 1/2” squares, one for each of the dyes.

Standing at our bar-height counter, I was determined to mix every color with every other color …

24 by 24, which equals 576 little blocks …

I’ve gotten better with practice, so I’m actually redoing some of the early blocks.

And yes, the colors do run a bit, which means I just have to figure out how best to make that an asset rather than a liability.

Shibori maybe?