Creating Coordinates - Part 1

I had a nice group of dyes mixed for another project but they are a bit too old to be predictable anymore so I really can't use them on fabric.

Waste not want not right? I am using them to create a set of coordinates for virtual piecework.

To do virtual piece work I dye rice paper using itajime folding methods then scan it in and manipulate it virtually. I suppose I could do this with any fabric or paper but since I want to market my work I would eventually run into problems with copyright... not my scene, I'd much rather use something I made myself.

The rice paper dyes just like fabric but I haven't figured out how to set it so it is unstable and therefore it has limits as to what it can be used for. However once it is virtual I no longer have to worry about that technical stuff. Very sweet!

In this case I am working with a large palette of colors

(9 colors in 2 densities, light and dark = 18 all together).

I've done design groups like this before, and it is easy to get carried away with making multicolored pieces (they are fun!) and then find them very difficult to use together. If I use the patterns with solids it doesn't get too visually crazy, so this time I'm starting with solids then I will make the multicolored ones.

I decided to create a stripe of each color using the 2 densities and then something more solid with all the whites blown out

To make the stripe:

I started with by pleating the paper, then folding it into thirds and clamped it.

Then I dyed it using this dipping pattern to create a stripe with a slightly more dynamic quality to it I was hoping that I would lose the white but as it turned out the clamps created enough resist that I did end up with some white after all

To create a more solid design:

I folded it up diagonally then dipped it 1/2 and 1/2 into the dark and light dyes. In this case I didn't use clamps so I wouldn't get any white.

Here are the results.

Next up multicolored patterns