For this project, you will need a prepared sheet of watercolor paper, approximately 6" x 15" (a long and skinny format). Also have on hand -- masking fluid and quill pen (or something similar), salt, and a rubber square eraser (rubber cement remover). The watercolor pigments we will use are Quinacridone Gold, Quinacridone Burnt Orange, Alizarin Crimson, and Thalo Blue. And, near the end, we will use a little Cadmium Red (or Permanent Red) and Cerulean Blue (for spattering).
Prep 4 colors on your palette for your wet-in-wet underpainting -- the Quin Gold, Quin Burnt Orange, Alizarin Crimson, and Thalo Blue (or something similar).
Spray the paper with clear water. Starting at the top left corner, paint the Quin Gold, in a diagonal way, approximately 1/4 down the paper. While that is still wet, start painting the Quin Burnt Orange, overlapping the Gold. Paint that in a diagonal way, to about halfway down the paper. If it starts to dry, mist with clear water, so the paint moves and mingles.
Now, start painting with the Alizarin Crimson, overlapping the Burnt Orange, to about 3/4 of the way down. Then, finish with the Thalo Blue.
Hold the board on end, over your palette, so the excess paint/water drips off the bottom.
Lay the paper/board flat, and spatter those 4 colors onto the wet paint. Now, wait until there is a sheen on the paper, but not too wet -- and sprinkle salt all over. (There's no right or wrong way to do this. Your paper will be drying at different rates. If it is too wet in parts, the salt just dissolves. If it is too dry in parts, the salt will do nothing. You are just trying to add some texture to the underpainting.)
While this is drying, find some references for your butterflies, or you can use this Plate.
Pick out three different butterfly references, and draw them onto your paper. (If you don't have the time or patience, you can always just draw one butterfly.)
Now, prepare the masking fluid. (When I use masking, I thin it a little with water, putting it into a tiny container. And, I apply it with a quill pen with a metal nib, which cleans up easily.)
You'll be doing 3 stages of Masking and Painting, before you are finished. This is a way of negative painting, but, you're blocking out the positive shapes, in stages, and painting the negative areas. The masking takes a little care, but the painting is easy -- you don't have to paint around the positive shapes.
1st Masking/Painting Stage -- Apply the masking fluid to the lightest shapes in the wings.
Top Butterfly --
Middle Butterfly --
Bottom Butterfly --
When you have masked out all the lightest areas in all the butterflies, let it dry completely before painting.
Remove the Quin Gold from the middle of your palette. Just use 3 colors -- the Quin Burnt Orange, the Alizarin Crimson, and the Thalo Blue -- for this painting stage.
After the masking is totally dry, mist the painting with clear water, and paint those 3 colors, in the same diagonal manner as before -- this time, starting with the Burnt Orange in the upper left corner, then the Alizarin Crimson in the middle, and finishing with the Thalo Blue to the bottom.
You WILL NOT be adding any salt at this stage, but you can still get some texture by spattering those 3 colors onto the wet paint. Also, when the paint starts to dry, you can spray it with a FINE mist of water, in order to get some additional texture. Lay flat, and let it dry.
2nd Masking/Painting Stage -- When the paint is completely dry, it is time to add your second round of masking. Remember, you DON'T remove any of the masking until the very end. Just mask out the medium light values in each butterfly. At this stage, mask out the antennae of each of the butterflies, too.
Top Butterfly --
Middle Butterfly --
Bottom Butterfly --
After the masking is completely dry, use the same 3 colors you used before, and paint them in the same order. Once again, spatter some of the paint onto the wet paint, and let everything dry.
If possible, try not to use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process -- it makes it harder to remove the masking at the end.
Final Masking/Painting Stage -- At this stage, you will mask out the rest of the shapes of the butterflies. Leave some of the lines unmasked, and any shapes that you want to be really dark.
Top Butterfly --
Middle Butterfly --
Bottom Butterfly --
Be sure to let the masking fluid dry really well before painting.
At this stage of the painting process, we will use just the Alizarin Crimson and the Thalo Blue. Spritz your paper with water, and then paint the Alizarin in the top half and the Blue in the bottom half.
Turn your paper upside down, to mingle the colors better . . .
Now, add some more texture, since you won't be masking anymore. Sprinkle some salt all over the painting, after it has dried to a sheen. Then, spatter your painting -- this time with Cadmium or Winsor Red, and with Cerulean Blue. These colors will "sit on top" of the darker colors and won't spread.
I know it's hard to tell what your painting is going to look like, at this point.
Mix together the Alizarin Crimson and the Thalo Blue, to make a very dark purple. With this color, brush it onto some of the parts of the butterflies' wings, especially the top and the middle butterflies. I realize you will be painting right on top of the salt. Just do your best to drop in some of that dark color, and then lay your paper/board flat to dry.
Now, it's time for the Big Reveal!
Using either your thumb or a square crepe rubber "eraser", begin to remove the masking fluid and the salt. Rub or brush off as much of the salt with your hand first; and then, tackle the removal of the masking. Where the salt and the masking fluid have dried together, it might be particularly stubborn -- use your fingernail if you need to, to scrape off the salt.
And, voila' -- your Butterfly Batik!
I hope you're happy with your results. I know the masking can be a bit tedious, but the effect you get is usually worth it.
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