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Painted fans
Jul. 25th, 2018 07:14 pmNow that I know they have arrived at their destination, I can post about these here. I made these a couple of weeks ago for some dear friends, Angela and Bethany, who have been my roommates both times I've been to CoCo and who lost their beloved puppies this past year. I wanted to repay them for past kindnesses and make something that would be a memento for their pets.
So these started as some plain silk Chinese fans that I got on eBay. They're kind of too big for historical stuff (13" sticks), but I figured that better too big than too small for fans and keeping cool. I have (of course) a whole Pinterest board of 18th century fans that helped me with the design. The pictures of the dogs were printed out from their Facebook photo albums. Then I drew everything on in pencil and traced the dog outlines using the window (which gave my arms a good workout!) also in pencil. I used Jacquard Textile Color and Lumiere by Jacquard (in Bright Gold) fabric paints. I started by filling in all the design stuff in colour.
Then I added all the gold accents, which really made everything pop.
I saved the dog portraits for last. They were the part I was most worried about because I really wanted them to look like the actual dogs. Luckily, my dad has a great eye for animals and was super helpful in nailing the little details, like the angle of a nose or where a highlight should be.
The finished fans:
These were a lot of fun to make and I am happy to report that they were well-received. Painting on the folded surface caused some difficulties. And sometimes my lines weren't always as fine or as consistent as I would have liked. I did have a very tiny brush, which worked well. And the whole thing was good practice for when I finally get around to making that painted dress this winter.
Speaking of dresses, I need to get back to work on my sheer bustle dress! I need to gather and to apply all the ruffles that I made yesterday.
So these started as some plain silk Chinese fans that I got on eBay. They're kind of too big for historical stuff (13" sticks), but I figured that better too big than too small for fans and keeping cool. I have (of course) a whole Pinterest board of 18th century fans that helped me with the design. The pictures of the dogs were printed out from their Facebook photo albums. Then I drew everything on in pencil and traced the dog outlines using the window (which gave my arms a good workout!) also in pencil. I used Jacquard Textile Color and Lumiere by Jacquard (in Bright Gold) fabric paints. I started by filling in all the design stuff in colour.
Then I added all the gold accents, which really made everything pop.
I saved the dog portraits for last. They were the part I was most worried about because I really wanted them to look like the actual dogs. Luckily, my dad has a great eye for animals and was super helpful in nailing the little details, like the angle of a nose or where a highlight should be.
The finished fans:
These were a lot of fun to make and I am happy to report that they were well-received. Painting on the folded surface caused some difficulties. And sometimes my lines weren't always as fine or as consistent as I would have liked. I did have a very tiny brush, which worked well. And the whole thing was good practice for when I finally get around to making that painted dress this winter.
Speaking of dresses, I need to get back to work on my sheer bustle dress! I need to gather and to apply all the ruffles that I made yesterday.
