The joy of silk charmeuse

For a moment let's set aside the simple fact that it's just so much fun to say the word "charmeuse," especially when it comes out shar-MOOOZ. More important though is the fact that this stuff is absolutely wonderful to paint on. The brush with thickened dye just glides across the smooth, shiny side of the cloth, and the dye penetrates very well, giving good strike on both sides. 

My cloth is created by printing, dyeing, and a decent amount of hand painting. This isn't the fussy sort of "silk painting" as you can see from the photos below. Both of these length are destined to become scarves.

First layer of gestural marks and shapes on two 2-yard lengths of silk charmeuse

Beginning to add color

Background fill