IDENTIFYING BATIK ART IDEAS FROM NATURE

Nature provides us with endless possibilities. In this article I'll use my own natural surroundings as an example. I encourage my students to find what interests them depending on where they are around the world. To be able to fully appreciate what nature has to offer, take photos of everything that interests you and try to study them on a computer. I always take my photos 2 times a day, that is after sunrise and an hour or so to sunset. This helps me to study the shadows cast because the sunlight is hitting the subject from one side. Please observe the following photographs carefully;

The above picture shows a common food crop around the village, the cassava. Looking at this plant, one can be able to notice what looks like tiny arms stretching off the stem and opening up at the end into giant fingers. There are reddish tiny lines with what looks like open palms everywhere crisscrossing, intersecting, shielding and leaning against each other. The sunlight is coming from the right side and as a result, shadows are cast from top leaves down creating a good image for a batik artist. It's the same with the next pictures as well.

In batik art, we begin from the lightest colors on to darker colors. By looking at the above examples, you are able to identify and differentiate lightly colored areas from darker areas. Therefore, after drawing your sketch on the fabric, start by blocking off these lighter areas with wax before applying the next darker color.