Refrain

Refrain.  Illustration Friday's word.  These two children are showing little restrain or refrain from what their curiosity is encouraging.

As an artist I'm experimenting using batik as an illustration medium. Traditionally batik  is created on a textile such as cotton or silk. This piece was created using batik dyes on heavy weight watercolor paper.

The first step was to apply molten wax to areas that were to stay white and blue batik dye was washed  across the whole image.   Next the blue sky was preserved using wax as a resist and the remaining image was washed in yellow batik dye.  As in traditional batik, the green colors were created when the yellow was washed over the blue.   The green areas were preserved under molten wax.  Additional color combinations are created with additional dye washes.  In the end the wax is removed.

The steps to these batiks are similar to  old printing methods where each color is added in layers.  It gives these illustrations a traditional woodblock feel.