Sun Prints

On a very hot day last week I prepared to make sun prints.   First I gathered together items to 'print' such as flowers, leaves, cedar, cheese cloth, tulle, stencils etc. as well as  various brushes (foam brushes work well).

  Then I prepared several pots of setacolour paints.   I taped several pieces of white prewashed cotton onto a table covered with plastic.   At this point you need to work quickly.  I painted the cotton pieces one at a time with several colours.    As soon as one was painted I quickly arranged the items on it while the paint was still wet.

Ready to Print

cheese cloth, cedar worked well

so did grape leaves

 The main ingredient of sun prints is --- SUN!  Unfortunately after many days of hot, humid, endlessly sunny weather,  as soon as I had two prints ready, the sun disappeared!!

As a result the colours blended before the sun dried them and my first attempt ended up like this.  That can also happen if you add too much water to the paint (which I may have done as well).

The colours really blended together but I am okay with it because I am using it for background for some small florals.  Once the sun came out I tried again.  My second attempt gave some stronger colours.

The stencils work well but leave very sharp lines along the edges.  Again, because these will be covered up by flowers it is not a problem to me.  I think I may cut around the edges next time to soften the lines a bit.   I can always use a wash of colour over it as well.

Here is the start of a floral using one of these sun prints.   I played around with the flowers looking for the right mix.

Once I decided on the placement and choice of flowers, I started stitching.

This one is going to be a gift if I like the results.    I do love the effect of the sun prints in the background.