Japanese textile paint on synthetic fabric fan

Blog Post 28

I leveled up the look of my black fan by painting 9 peonies on it. I’ll make another as gift for a friend.

Some painting tips: If the fabric weave of the fan is loose, use a ground for a good take of the textile paints. You can use ordinary synthetic brushes because textile paint can damage your sable brushes. Save your expensive brushes for the fragile Chinese paintings you will do on rice paper. And, after painting, clean your brushes at once and hang them for air drying.

Since I painted on a black fabric, I can’t use Chinese ink to sign my name. Instead, I’ll use  gold or silver textile paint.

Keep on painting and be sure to finish what you started. Don’t just quit once you make a mistake or a bad brush stroke. Instead, think of a way to repair or save your painting. Remember: ‘Done’ is better than ‘perfect’.  And, you always learn so much more from any mistake if you try to correct it.

By the way, here’s the difference that gold paint made: