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Naiads, or it’s good to be green….

I’m not that great at drawing the human figure, but I guess I’m getting better. A while ago I bought some artists figurines (here, at Dick Blick). I posed the female into the positions I wanted for the naiads and sketched them. I then outlined the sketches with dark pen, taped them to a work surface, placed plastic over (acetate sheet), placed PFD (prepared for dyeing) white cloth over that and painted them, minus hair (which I’ll do with free-motion threadwork).

painted figures

My first attempt, using Tsukinenko inks, was a bust. Somehow I can never get the blending I want with those inks, whether using the sticks or a brush. So I tried So Soft paints, from a kit put together by Bonnie McCaffery. They WORKED! The paints are very creamy and soft, leaving a fairly nice hand to the fabric afterwards–not stiff and board-like! I ended up appliquéing the figures to the quilt by hand, and it looks good! In the interest of keeping things sorta secret, I’ll only show you part of one of the ladies, appliquéd and with thread-lace-hair:

Naiad cropped

3 Responses to “Naiads, or it’s good to be green….”

  1. Marie Says:

    Oh ! SB:
    It’s a beauty …. Nice work – as always !
    M

  2. Bonnie McCaffery Says:

    Hi Sarah,
    She looks great and I can’t wait to see the finished piece. I agree, the SoSoft Fabric Paints are the best.
    Bonnie McCaffery

  3. Sandra Wyman Says:

    Looks great. BTW – a friend of mine who’s a dollmaker uses face make-up (apparently fabric paints were developed from this): I assume it needs heat-curing by ironing as does fabric paint and it would need to be tested for washability but could solve the problem of mixing a variety of flesh-tones.