Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Planning a Batik Unit


Batik made in Fiber Arts college course

I am planning a unit around the techniques of batik dying.  I'd like my students to become familiar with the idea of preserving the most recent color using some kind of resist.

Crayon and paper is one of my favorites!  I know I will need to emphasize heavy pressure on the crayons.  But it will be worth it.

I've been hearing so much about using blue gel glue as a resist with liquid watercolor and I'd like to explore that avenue.

Has anyone ever tried a flour paste resist?  I am curious how that might work on white paper or shiny cardstock


At the blog "A Faithful Attempt", Miss has posted several beautiful artpieces in the style of Adire batiks.   

She and her 7th graders completed them this last spring.  I really liked them and know I want to try this lesson right away this fall, so I've asked her if I might repost a link here in my blog to jog my memory a month from now. 


darlingcreations.com

She also had her 8th graders doing batik images with crayon, crinkled paper, and washes of acrylic.  They were beautiful too.  I really liked the strong black outlines in her students' work.   




wax crayon and paint wash
http://www.littledavinci.com/Crayon-and-Tempera-Art-Work-by-Triston1411-2923-Prodview.html

As I run across resources for this unit, I've been posting them in this blog and on my Pinterest page.  You may want to check out that website.  It is a great place to save images and they list the source for the image so that you may get back to it like any one of your favorites or bookmarked sites.  I think I am going to like it a lot for saving art lesson ideas!  I haven't accumulated too many photos yet, but I intend to make it a resource for myself and others and I anticipate making many more categories!

For example, I pinned this cute little watercolor resist piece done by one of Anne's summer school students and it enables me to quickly go back to her blog "Use Your Colored Pencils" and read more about her lesson.  When I save it in my pinterest page provides and automatic link back to the source.


What other batik ideas have you done with children for art lessons?

4 comments:

Phyl said...

I've done an imitation batik with kids using a mix of toothpaste and aloe vera lotion on muslin. Sounds crazy, but it works, the kids love it, and the art room smells minty fresh, thought the results can vary greatly. I blogged about it first here: http://plbrown.blogspot.com/2010/05/5th-grade-batik-with-toothpaste.html and then again sometime this past fall (I'm sure you could find it on my blog using the labels). Haven't tried the blue glue but it sounds like it should work well. Haven't tried the flour paste.

I have done crayon batiks on fabric with 8th graders, with wax and crayons melted in muffin tins in an electric fry pan filled with water. This isn't suitable for younger kids though.

I've also done stuff with oil pastels or crayons, painted over with black ink and washed, but you need to make sure your paper will hold up to the process.

Finally, Artful Artsy Amy posted a while back about using soap for a sort of batik effect. I tried it with limited results, but hers are awesome.

Kathy said...

Thank you Phyl for your great suggestions about the batiks here on my post. I am also looking into your ideas about the Chihuly sculpture you told me about last week. You are very helpful!

Leslie Anne Pease said...

The colors are beautiful! Absolutely creative.

Katherine said...

I've used plain white school glue on cotton with tempera paint, came out satisfying but pastel after washing.