CHEESECLOTH
You can ~nd cheesecloth in grocery
stores where it is sold for use as a
strainer in cooking It was originally
used to strain cheese. You can also
buy it in home improvement and fab·
ric stores. The weave may be coarse
or ~ne. It is usually white or a natural
off·white and it is highly absorbent.
This is an advantage if you want to
dye it.
You could also collage cheesecloth in
its raw state directly onto your art. It
can act as a veil through which details
will be only partially visible. Apply
plenty of matte medium directly to
the painting surface, then slide the
cheesecloth around until you ~nd the
right position. When the medium is
dry, you can run a transparent glaze
of fluid acrylic over the area, int egrat·
ing the fabric with the background.
Or, if you want to create contrast,
when the glaze is dry, load the side
of a flat bristle brush with a darker or
lighter opaque tube or jar acrylic and
brush it gently over the raised areas
of fabric.
SCREEN NETTING
If you ever need to replace your
window screens yourself, you'll likely
end up with a lot of netting left on
the roll. This can easily be cut into
small rectangles and collaged to a
painting with matte or gel medium.
Since it is generally dark in color, the
effect is more dramatic over a light
background. It's surprising how often
you can quiet down a busy area
by adding a small square of gray
netting. It doesn't even have to be
painted.DYEING
CHEESECLOTH
In a shallow tray, mix approxi-
mately one part fluid acrylic or
acrylic ink with five parts water.
Soak a piece of cheesecloth in
the paint for a few minutes.
When the fibers have ab-
sorbed the paint, hang the
cheesecloth up to dry. lay
down newspaper to catch the
drips.
Have a dyeing session, mixing
several pots of paint in differ-
ent colors. You will then have a
variety of colored cheesecloth
to choose from and it will be
easier to match them to a par-
ticular painting.EXPUl.IMENTS I N TEXTURE I 51)