The Sun Printing Process

A collaboration with the weather, much of the results are out of my control.

Tools of the Trade:

Along with textile paint, a spray bottle with water, rubber gloves and foam brushes are the tools I use the most when I’m preparing a piece of fabric for sun printing.

The fabric is wet with water and then textile paint is applied with a foam paint brush. Custom colors are mixed using the primary colors, red, yellow and blue. Because the textile paints do not always mix the same way paint does to create secondary colors, I also use brown, green and orange to change the hue or intensity to create a particular color.

After the textile paint is applied a custom acrylic stencil is applied to the fabric. The stencil is designed digitally and laser cut. The stencil image creates the needed resist that creates the image. Where the fabric is exposed to air the water evaporates. As it dries it wicks water from the more wet areas. The dye moves with the water to the areas exposed and sets in the fabric as the fabric dries. This leaves the areas under the stencil lighter in value.

The sharpness, clarity and contrast of the image depends on the weather. Each piece is a collaboration with the weather. Humidity, wind, heat and sun all are a factor in how the final piece turns out.

I greatly enjoy the part of the sun printing process where I have to relinquish control of the piece over to the weather. The unknown is exciting, making each piece distinctive and unable to be recreated.

artwork © Erin Cork Woolfolk – Wool Folk Studio