I’m a pastel artist and have been asked to make a drawing on someone’s shirt – and she wants to still be able to wear it. I’ve heard of the technique of soaking fabric in milk, drawing with pastels on the surface, letting it dry, and then ironing it, but that does not make the drawing washable. Is wearable chalk pastel art possible?
Make your drawing on paper, make a transfer of the design, and iron the transfer on the t-shirt.
Or see if she’ll spring for a set of Shiva paintsticks for you:
http://dharmatrading.com/html/eng/3889103-AA.shtml?lnav=paints.html
January 31st, 2010 at 7:34 pm
I’ve HEARD (never tried it) that if you spray it with hairspray it’ll make it "permanent" but that’s only in terms of wall art. As for shirts… Good luck!
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January 31st, 2010 at 8:15 pm
You may be able make the drawing on paper and transfer the image to the tee shirt.
I doubt that there is a way to preserve a chalk drawing so it will survive washing.
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-and-Use-Iron-on-Transfers
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January 31st, 2010 at 8:39 pm
Hairspray is a good suggestion, however I doubt the more official fixative (which really stinks worse than hairspray of any kind) is likely to be good for use as a means to fix your art onto fabric, as the chemicals in it may not react well to fabric – or vice versa!
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January 31st, 2010 at 9:26 pm
Make your drawing on paper, make a transfer of the design, and iron the transfer on the t-shirt.
Or see if she’ll spring for a set of Shiva paintsticks for you:
http://dharmatrading.com/html/eng/3889103-AA.shtml?lnav=paints.html
References :
50 years of playing with fabric
January 31st, 2010 at 9:49 pm
Tricky.. I’m not sure if pastels would be the best option for a shirt. Would it be possible to spraypaint it and make it look like a pastel drawing instead? There are probably ways to preserve the pastel, but the problem is that fabric flexes and stretches. That will break the pastel into bits, and putting something on to preserve the pastel will still break up. So the choice is up to you: would you rather have a short-lasting drawing that would quicly break up, or cover it with enough preservatives front and back that the shirt is stiff enough to stop it from breaking up?
And you probably will not be able to draw very well if you soak the shirt in milk. Especially if it’s oil pastel, because of the whole water-oil not mixing thing…
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