handpainted pillows

[curb-side.livejournal.com]

Some pillows painted with fabric dye (used like watercolor) and a black fabric marker. I used an old book with pictures of birds in it to reference the drawings.

I sketched the image first and then went over it with a watercolor brush dipped in fabric dye. I used red, blue and yellow, mixing blue and yellow to make green and red and blue for the purple so I wouldn't have to buy extra colors, adding a little bit of dye to an ounce of water in a dixie cup. I used plain muslin for the ground and the color stayed pretty well. I used a thicker fabric, thinking I would get better results. But it tends to bleed when you wet it.