All About Shiva Paintstiks

I love Shiva Paintstiks. I really do. My Paintstik class is one of my favorites to teach. Often, students admit they have hoarded collections of Paintstiks but never opened the packages! Somehow Paintstiks seem too intimidating to use. This month, my posts on this blog will be all about Shiva Paintstiks – what are they, how you can use them, and what supplies will be useful.

Paintstiks are basically oil paint crayons. They consist of three ingredients: pigment, wax, and linseed oil. The pigment provides color, the wax provides structure for the Paintstik (and makes it sort of like a crayon), and the linseed oil helps transfer the pigment to the fabric. 

I did this quick study with a rubbing plate for the flower, construction fence for the grid, and a stencil for the dots. While the flower alone was fun, more layers can create an interesting overall image.

After you apply the Paintstik to your fabric, the paint needs to dry or cure. The linseed oil will dissipate.  This can take a few days or even longer, depending on the humidity in your location. I sometimes take my project down to our laundry area and hang it near our dehumidifier to speed the process along.

You can heat set Paintstiks on your fabric and then you are safe to throw the painted fabric into the washer and dryer. Never dry clean a project that contains paint from Paintstiks. The dry cleaning fluid will ruin your paint – enough to know there was an issue but not enough to completely remove the paint for a fresh start. So, no dry cleaning. 

To heat set, layer parchment paper, paper toweling, and your painted work, paint side down.

To heat set, I use my iron, parchment paper, and some paper towels. set your iron for the fabric type. Cover your ironing surface with parchment paper to protect it and then I layer a few paper towels on top of the parchment paper. With your painted fabric face down (paint side on the paper towels), press each section of the fabric for about 15 seconds. 

I created this fun Paintstik panel with two Paintstik colors, one commercially available grey cotton fabric, and one purchased stencil. I'll share how I did it in my third post for this month: Paintstiks & Stencils

If you are in a hurry and you don’t have time for the paint to cure, you can heat set your work early, but expect to lose some pigment. When you heat set early, you’ll see the telltale oil residue on the paper towels. You’ll also see the color you lost. 

I painted this fun piece with a single stencil on black cotton using iridescent Paintstiks in metallic colors.

I like to use Paintstiks with rubbing plates to create texture and with stencils to create more refined images. I especially like mixing up these two techniques for a more complex effect. In the next post, I’ll show you how to use Paintstiks with rubbing plates. I’ll also share one of the most useful tools I have in my studio and instructions for cleaning up.

The prize for this month's drawing: a set of 6 rubbing plates, one stencil, four stencil brushes, and a set of iridescent mini Paintstiks in metallic colors.

Would you like some Paintstiks of your very own? Comment on any of my Printed Fabric Bee posts this month and you will be entered in a drawing to win some cool Paintstik stuff! I also invite you over to my website, www.MoonlightingQuilts.com, and my own blog, www.MoonlightingQuilts.Wordpress.com.