Wax On! Batik on Paper

When I say the word, “batik” do you automatically think of fabrics?  What if I told you that you can create beautiful batiks on paper?  Seriously.  You can.  These hearts were created on rice paper using the batik technique, but could I could have easily used white scrapbooking paper and they would have looked just as great.

“The dyes,” you ask.  The rich dyes I used were from Tulip® One-Step-Dyes™.  You just add water to the bottle and you get these wonderful dyes.  I love their deep color and richness.  I also love their ease of use. 

You can also use food-coloring dyes, the ones in the small bottles, but they won’t have the same deep, rich color that comes from the One-Step-Dyes™.  But if you are just starting out, they are fine to use.

The most important facts that you must remember is that melted wax can catch on fire and that wax can burn you.  So you really do not want small children to handle hot wax and you want to read and follow the safety instructions that come on the box of wax.

If you have really young children, you can always use a white crayon to draw the design onto the paper as a resist.  Then, let them use watercolor paints to fill in the design. 

Wax give a deepness to the color that cannot be achieved any other way.  It’s one of my favorite techniques to use.  I hope you will be inspired to try your hand at batiks after seeing these hearts.

You can frame your work. You can scan it into your computer and print it out as cards or background paper (you can use the original, but you may want to save the original as your mater copy). 

You can also use this technique on fabric as well. 

Interested in learning more about the batik technique, pick up a copy of my Batik Tutorial right now.

Tomorrow: Mardi Gras