What's On Your Workdesk this 485th Wednesday? Sun printing fabric

This will be my final WOYWW until I can get Mr. Linky working again.  I have once again asked Helen (H) to link me, and she has graciously agreed in true desker friendship, but it's not fair to her to have to do so, especially when others are vying for the # 1 slot.

Several people asked questions about the sun printing I did two weeks ago, I decided to create one more set of prints.  That means my work desk today is my front porch and driveway.  Julia, our desker queen and host at Stamping Ground hopes we will avoid long posts, so I will try to be brief, yet take you through the steps and hopefully answer your questions.

You need something sturdy like heavy cardboard or plastic for your base.  Then you need to cover that with something plastic that will accept water.  Mrs. D (Chris) asked if this technique worked with paper, and I am not sure, but if so, you would need very heavy watercolor paper, probably 300 lb. This weight of paper is like card stock.  300 lb. paper will dry flat without buckling and can take quite a bit of abuse. The reason I say that is because the fabric must be very wet when you start the project and kept wet while you spread the paint around. 

You can buy white cotton, or use an old bed sheet like I've done.  Fabric paints specifically created for sun printing can be purchased, but I use fluid acrylics.  You can water down heavy body acrylics, but DO NOT USE craft paint.  The pigment isn't strong enough.  Because the fabric is wet, the paint will begin to spread.

You can use a brush for each paint color, but I use the same brush for both and allow the colors to blend.  I usually apply three colors, but for this one, I chose only two.  If you are slow, your fabric will begin to dry, so you must add more water.  As you can see, my fabric began to dry, so I had to smooth the fabric out after I had painted it.

Once your background is to your liking, add your MASKS.  DO NOT USE STENCILS because they leave many white spots. 

It's now time to place the fabric in the heat.  Although it is called "sun printing," you don't actually need sun.  You DO NEED HEAT.

Be sure your masks are laid flat against the fabric.  Any element that isn't flat will not print, like the tail on the top right metal rocking horse.

Be sure it's not windy when you sun print your fabric,

or you'll find the fabric stuck to the plastic support and flipped upside down in the grass like I found this side.  You can tell some of the rocking horses were lost before the fabric under them dried, leaving shadows or ghosts.

The idea behind this is for the exposed fabric to dry quicker than the fabric under the mask.  The heat then slowly draws or wicks the paint slowly from under the mask, leaving the imprint, in this case some of my flat rocking horses.

It was obvious the rocking horse cookie cutter was not right for the job, because there was not enough surface to call it a true mask.  Stacy asked why we should not use stencils. When the paint is wicked away, all that is left are large blobs of white or whatever background color you started with.

What surprised me most was when I tried to color compensate this piece of fabric, I noticed the textured harlequin pattern embedded in the sheet.   Possibly a bonus, possibly a distraction.  I suspect you noticed the rocking horses I shared in this post that were from my collection!

Thanks for visiting today.  Your visit is always welcome, even though I can't leave comments to those on some G+ blogs, Instagram, Tumblr, and Facebook.  For everyone else, I'll be by to visit, although I seem to be playing nothing but catch up lately.  If you are coming from Julia's, please leave your number.  And Julia, please forgive me for this extra long post.