The process of creating Batik is a labor intensive process. I'm often asked how it's done. Well, it involves some drawing skills, a bit of imagination and a penchant for experimentation. There is painting involved but it requires the mastery of unusual tools known as Tjanting, as well as paint brushes. How heavy you press with the brushes affects the image, and most of all the temperature of the wax dictates how the beeswax drops through the Tjanting tool onto the cloth and how much control you have over the wax. Working swiftly and carefully is key. The only color in your work is through the dye process, always an experimentation and one of the most rewarding parts of Batik, besides the crackling affect of the wax on the cloth that the dye seeped through. The dye process can be one or up to four dye processes. I haven't done more than four and usually stop at three since I use the submersion method of Batik. The "submersion method" is dipping your entire piece in dye, opposed to painting on only certain areas with dye. Three layers is usually the most rewarding limit in the submersion method.
As you know each layer of wax between dyes adds the resist effect we love so much and which makes batik BATIK
To finish the Batik you must boil out the wax - this means cooking your clothes over a fire in a large cauldron while slowly skimming off the wax from the top. Other methods use an iron but I have never done this!
So this is what I do to create my Batik apparel!
In regards to my Batik Fine Art... on one piece in the Marian Apparition series "Our Lady of Hope" I used a combination of submersion and direct paint on dye. The gorgeous mix of blue yellow green in the background was a painted on dye process. The clouds, face, halo and everything else was submersion.
So... I plan on creating a tarot batik painting and I will be combining these exciting methods of batik in that piece of art. Stay tuned!