“Spring,” the panel illustrated facing page [64], designed by Bertram Hartman and executed by him and the writer, is one of the early batiks designed by this artist. It was dyed in the group of the blues and no reds were used in the making of it. It was dipped eight times, the original white of the material making the ninth colour. The waxing of this piece was done entirely with the brush, no tjanting being used, and gives a fair idea of the fine work that can be done with the brush, if one considers that the size of the original panel is only about forty by sixty inches.
EXTRACTING COLOUR
For some designs it may be necessary to use both red and green in the same piece; in this case the colours of the “blue group” should first be dyed, until the darkest shade called for in the colour scheme has been obtained and then the colour can be extracted from the places where the shades that belong in the “red group” are demanded. With the strong colour extracted, it is possible to get the opposing colours quite successfully, starting in with the lightest tones and working through to the darkest in the manner already described.
This bleaching can be done with a solution of ammonia or washing soda. Both these mediums have to be used with the greatest care as either of them will eat into the wax to a certain extent and consequently allow the next colour to penetrate and affect the previous dyes. It is wise, therefore, to inspect the waxed off parts very carefully before re-dyeing and retouch the places where the wax has been destroyed. A good plan is to keep a strict eye on the wax in any case, in order to prevent surprise attacks by dye on the material through places that have become weakened. Naturally the wax is likely to suffer when the fabric has to be handled as much as it has to be, when being dyed a number of colours.
Some people, when they wish to have opposing colours, such as blue and red, in the same design, resort to the native method of removing the wax entirely after each dipping and re-covering the parts already dyed. This takes a great deal longer and the wax needs very careful dissolving, as the fresh dye will not “take” unless every particle of it is removed from the fabric and even then it is not easy to get a successful dipping as the gasoline used for the dissolving is more or less greasy and of course grease has no affinity with water. White lines, or lines the colour of the original fabric, are apt to show too, if one has overstepped the boundary when covering up the first colour, prior to the second waxing.
When dyeing a batik with one colour over the other, the second colour dyed will always be affected by the tone of the first dipping; for instance, suppose your material is dyed yellow the first time, and blue the second, the fabric will not come out as a true blue, but according to the strength of the blue dye, will be either light green, green blue, or if an intense blue has been used, a blue-green will result. It will be found that similar variations will occur when red is dyed over yellow, which will give shades of orange and gradations of purple will be obtained when red is dyed over blue.
BY FOLLOWING THE ARROWS IN THE ABOVE CHART IT WILL EASILY BE SEEN WHICH COLOURS SHOULD BE MIXED TOGETHER IN ORDER TO PRODUCE A GIVEN COLOUR. THE PROPORTION OF DYE USED IS INDICATED BY THE CONNECTING LINES; THE SHORTEST LINE SHOWS WHICH COLOUR SHOULD PREDOMINATE
A careful study of the accompanying colour mixing chart will give the reader an idea of the way various shades are produced from the primary colours.
THE COMPOSITION OF COLOUR