Shiva Paintstik Tutorial

As promised, I am going to show you how to use the Shiva Paintstiks.   I had these things sitting in my studio for months, thinking I needed to learn how to use them.  If I had known how completely simple they were to use, I would have been at them a long time ago.  

They really are fabulous.   Easier than painting, yet very similar effects, but no running, seeping or  spilling.   Now there is hardly an art quilt of mine where you won't see a bit of Shiva somewhere.

Let's get started.

Supplies:
Shiva Paintstiks
rag
block of fabric to practice on
stencil
freezer paper
brush, any will do, but those that have a flat end are the best

The first thing about the paintstiks that you need to know is they have a self forming skin on them.   That means that they form a dry crust on them when not in use.  So you have to remove that crust.  Some people take a little paring knife, I just press hard on a rag and you can see the skin come off.

Once you have the skin off, you are ready to go.   Don't worry, you can see the skin, and you can see it come off.  

There are several ways of applying the stik.   First you can just draw with it.  This gives a heavy thick line.  You can see by the little heart I did below.

Or as lots of people do, they use a brush.   This can give you a softer look, yet allows you to do shading and different colouring too.  Remember I mentioned a flat end brush is best?   I have used both, and they do work, but the flat end gives a more equal distribution of the colour.   You can always just clip your brush to make it more flat.  

You just take some swipes with your brush on the paintstik till you have some on, and lightly dab the area you want to paint.   I am using a stencil here to show you.  When I say dab, I mean some sweeping motions, or brushing motions.

Here are 2 different flowers using the stencil.  The one on the lower left, I used yellow and pink in it.

Another way to create shapes more personalized, is to make your own stencils.  And you can do this by using freezer paper.   Just draw your design on the paper side of the freezer paper,  and then cut it out.   Then iron the paper to the fabric, shiny side down.   The paper stays in place while you use your paintstik.

Here is the freezer paper ironed on.

This photo shows the coloring I did with the brush between the freezer paper.

Here the freezer paper is lifted, leaving nice clean lines.  

This last picture shows all three methods.  The heart is where I just used the paintstik and drew.  The 2 little flowers, I applied the paintstik with a flat ended brush using a stencil.  Lastly the lines are done with the freezer paper as my stencil.

Now you must leave it for 24 hours to cure and then heat set it with an iron and it is permanent. 

You will want to wash your brush or it will get hard and crusty.  (Don't ask me how I know)  Soap and water doesn't work, due to the oils in the paintstik, but I did soak it in some Citrasolv and that did the trick.  

Pretty easy?  Let me know what you think.

Here is a quilt of mine that has the Shiva Paintstiks in the corner, the paisley motifs is done using this method.