Lesson video

Hello, my name's Ms. Nadia, and I'm really looking forward to teaching you your art lesson today because today we are going to be doing one of my favourite dyeing techniques, which is called wax batik.

I hope you enjoy it.

Your learning outcome for today's lesson is to be able to create a batik design by applying the wax, adding dye, and drawing in details that are inspired by nature.

Your keywords today are resist, this is a method of blocking dye from certain areas of the fabric.

Dye, this is a substance used to colour materials.

And wax, which is used in batik as a resist to create patterns.

So your three keywords are resist, dye and wax.

Your lesson today is split into two learning cycles.

The first learning cycle is called understanding batik and planning a design.

And our second learning cycle is called creating a batik piece on fabric.

We will begin with understanding batik and planning a design.

The outcomes for our lesson today might look something like this.

Don't they look really detailed with the images from nature, the trees, and these lovely backgrounds that have a dot effect.

So let me tell you all about batik then.

So batik is a resist dyeing technique where melted wax is applied to the fabric which blocks areas from taking up the dye, and that creates a resist effect.

This process is repeated with layers of wax and dye to build up complex designs.

So if we take a little look at the example here on the screen, you can see that there are multiple shapes and multiple layers that have been built one on top of the other, and it creates a really stunning and interesting effect.

Batik is used all over the world, and it often shows flowers, birds and geometric patterns.

Can you have a go answering this true or false question? You can only use one colour with batik.

Is that true or is that false? And the answer is false.

Do you know why? The reason that it's false is that you can use multiple colours in batik by applying wax in layers and dyeing the fabric in stages.

So each layer of wax protects parts of the fabric from the dye colour.

So now we're gonna look at some artists who have been inspired to create batik.

Sola Olulode creates delicate batik and mixed media works, exploring memory and identity.

Thetis Blacker uses batik with rich colours and patterns, often looking at wings of birds and dragons.

Heather Gatt uses traditional wax-resist batik techniques to capture the shifting light and coastal landscape of East Yorkshire.

Sarkasi Said uses bold colours and fluid abstract batik designs that are inspired by nature.

Why do we apply wax before dye in batik? Is it A, to make the fabric softer? Is it B, to block areas of the fabric from absorbing the dye? Is it C, to help the dye set better? Or is it D, to dry the fabric faster? And the answer is B, it's to block areas of the fabric from absorbing the dye.

Now we're gonna look at understanding batik and planning design.

Artists often use mood boards or sketchbooks to gather ideas and images for their batik designs.

So here's an example of some inspirational images that are taken from nature.

So Jun says, "I take photos to show my theme and present them in my sketchbook." Jun is thinking about his project and research pages, "My project theme is environments and I am looking at urban and natural environments.

I plan to respond to my photography using batik.

I will test the technique first and then I will use it for my final piece.

I have chosen to focus on nature for this sample, using my photos of trees.

I plan to use the batik effect for the background." Jun is preparing a drawing for a batik sample, "I want a very simple tree on my motif sample, so I will draw it with a fine liner." So we're soon going to begin our first task, Task A.

What I would like you to do is to prepare a drawing for a batik sample.

Decide on your project theme, find a photo from your research page in your sketchbook, produce a linear drawing of the photo using a fine liner.

I hope this task goes well for you.

Good luck.

I will be here when you get back.

How did that go? Did you manage to prepare your drawing for a batik sample? There are so many possibilities of things that you may have done for this task, but this is an example of something that you may have done.

Jun says, "I like my simple linear drawing of the tree.

I will use it as a motif on my sample with the batik effect background." So now we are going to move on to the second part of our lesson today, which is called creating a Batik piece of fabric.

This is the traditional tool that we use for batik, and this is called a tjanting, and it's used for drawing fine lines of wax onto fabric.

Now these tjantings look like tiny little vessels or teapots with a spout on the end of a stick.

And the stick, the handle part, is wood so that you don't burn your hands.

And the metal part at the end becomes very hot, but the wax has to remain at a particular hot temperature in order for it to run freely from the spout.

So as well as the tjanting tool, artists often use different sized brushes as well to apply the wax if they don't have a tjanting.

This is a wax pot and it melts the batik wax and it keeps it at the right temperature so that it flows smoothly for drawing with a tjanting or a brush.

And this wax pot is plugged in and that way the temperature remains at the correct level throughout.

The temperature reaches 110 degrees Celsius in the wax pots, so it does become very hot.

Make sure that you are fully aware of the safety precautions that need to be followed before you use a wax pot.

Artists developing their batik technique to incorporate lots of colours include: Jonathan Evans, who is known for colourful, realistic designs inspired by nature and travel.

Sangodare Gbadegesin Ajala is a textile and batik specialist who uses up to 35 colours in vibrant, traditional inspired works.

Nyukana Daisy Baker uses warm desert-inspired colours layered with wax-resist patterns to reflect her connection to country and cultural stories.

Noel Dyrenforth's experimental batik work features vivid, layered colours created through wax-resist dyeing techniques.

Can you answer this true or false question? The hotter the wax, the better it will resist dye.

Is this true or is this false? That's true.

Wax needs to be melted but not too hot.

If it is overheated, it could burn the fabric, or if it spreads too much, it could ruin some of the fine details of the design.

Making your batik sample may look like this.

You would prepare your white cotton fabric and then you would turn the batik pot on to heat the wax.

And then when the wax is melted, you would put your tjanting in and collect the wax.

You would then carefully tilt the spout off the tjanting towards the fabric and release the wax.

Can you see the drips that are being created, which makes a dotted effect? Dip the tjanting back into the wax pot to collect more wax and then keep repeating these steps until the fabric is full of dots.

You would then mix your fabric dye or ink to achieve the desired colour.

And then using a paintbrush, you would apply the dye or ink onto the fabric.

You can either let the fabric dry naturally, or to speed up the process, you can use a hair dryer.

Once chop batik is dry, we then need to remove the wax.

So to do this, we replace greaseproof paper above and below the fabric and use an iron over the greaseproof paper until the wax melts and it becomes absorbed into the greaseproof paper.

And finally, you will take the greaseproof paper away to reveal your batik effect.

What happens if you don't iron off the wax after dyeing? Do you think, A, the design will stay bright and shiny, or B, the fabric will look unfinished and waxy, or C, the dye will spread over the wax areas, or D, the marker won't draw properly? And the answer is B, the fabric will look unfinished and waxy.

Making your batik sample may look like this.

So once you've completed the batik on your fabric, you would prepare the fine liner drawing, and this is done on paper.

You place the drawing under the batik sample and you would use a fine liner to trace the drawing.

And that fine liner would need to be a permanent maker pen so that it doesn't erase.

So you're now going to be embarking on Task B, and you will be making a batik sample of your own.

You should prepare your piece of white cotton, prepare your drawing, turn the wax pot on to melt the wax, put your tjanting into the pot to collect the wax, start to use your tjanting tool to drop wax onto the fabric to create dots.

And then you're going to let the wax dry for one minute, and then I'd like to mix your fabric dye or ink to the colour you desire and paint it onto fabric using a paintbrush.

You should then let the sample dry, put the greaseproof paper on the sample on the front and on the back, and then iron the sample to melt the wax.

And then you're going to trace your drawing onto the batik background with a fineliner pen.

Good luck.

I hope your batik sample goes really well, and I hope you really enjoy the process just like I do.

And I will check in with you once you've completed the task.

There are many possibilities of how your sample may have come out today, and this is an example of one way that your sample could have come out.

Jun says, "The batik effect in the background work well, creating a soft, textured look that suggests a forest.

I plan to use batik for my final piece and develop my ideas further." So we're now going to summarise our lesson today, which was titled Wax Batik.

Batik is a fabric dyeing technique that uses wax as a resist to stop certain areas from absorbing the dye.

Hot wax is applied to the fabric in patterns or designs.

When the fabric is dyed, the waxed areas stay their original colour.

This process can be repeated with new layers of wax and dye to build up multiple colours and intricate designs.

Finally, the wax is removed to reveal the finished batik.

I hope your sample piece came out really well today.

I hope you're happy with it.

Don't worry if it's not as precise or if it doesn't look precisely as you had anticipated.

With batik, you get some wonderful, intricate and interesting effects and they're not always precise images, but that's what I love about how batik looks because it has almost a semi-abstract feel to it.

I've really enjoyed our lesson today.

Thank you for working really hard today, and I really hope you enjoyed it too.

And I will see you again soon.

Thank you.

Bye-bye.