Batik is an ancient art, supposed to be about 2000 years old. it was practiced in Egypt, Persia, China, Japan, India. Practiced in Rajasthan and Saurashtra, the old style of Indian Batik printing used a special type of clay.
When the small water pools start drying up in summer, a kind of insect starts germinating. As the pools dry up completely, these die forming a layer on the pool bed. This clay is dug up, mixed with lime gum and soap and made into a paste used as resist. Carved wooden blocks are used to print the fabric with this paste. The cloth is then dyed. Once dry, the cloth is rubbed to remove the paste. Vegetable colours were used as dyes. Modern methods use hot wax as resist and chemical dyes. The hot wax method was introduced in India by Rathindhra nath Tagore, the son of Rabindra Nath Tagore. It was first used in Sriniketan in Vishwa Bharati.
Batik is originally a Javanese term, denoting a kind of resist technique for producing designs on fabric.
To give you an idea of what a resist technique is all about, I'll briefly explain the process before we get to the technical details.
The design is first transferred to the fabric from which all starch has been removed.
Let's say we want only 2 colours here. The design, a 4 -petaled flower. Hot liquid wax is dripped on the petals, taking care to leave the outline wax free. When the wax hardens, the fabric is dipped in say a red dye. The part of the fabric not covered in wax absorbs the dye. Or the wax resists the dye. Once fabric is dry, it is boiled in hot water to remove the wax. The process is messy yes. But the effect is beautiful.
Click here for the history of Batik painting/printing.
When the small water pools start drying up in summer, a kind of insect starts germinating. As the pools dry up completely, these die forming a layer on the pool bed. This clay is dug up, mixed with lime gum and soap and made into a paste used as resist. Carved wooden blocks are used to print the fabric with this paste. The cloth is then dyed. Once dry, the cloth is rubbed to remove the paste. Vegetable colours were used as dyes. Modern methods use hot wax as resist and chemical dyes. The hot wax method was introduced in India by Rathindhra nath Tagore, the son of Rabindra Nath Tagore. It was first used in Sriniketan in Vishwa Bharati.
Batik is originally a Javanese term, denoting a kind of resist technique for producing designs on fabric.
To give you an idea of what a resist technique is all about, I'll briefly explain the process before we get to the technical details.
The design is first transferred to the fabric from which all starch has been removed.
Let's say we want only 2 colours here. The design, a 4 -petaled flower. Hot liquid wax is dripped on the petals, taking care to leave the outline wax free. When the wax hardens, the fabric is dipped in say a red dye. The part of the fabric not covered in wax absorbs the dye. Or the wax resists the dye. Once fabric is dry, it is boiled in hot water to remove the wax. The process is messy yes. But the effect is beautiful.
Click here for the history of Batik painting/printing.
0 comments:
Post a Comment