Bleach, ink & wax resist

Experiment with ink, bleach & wax.

This work shop was all about working with resist materials to see how they'd react when applied in certain ways. 

Method:

1. First thing you'll have to do is draw out a grid of 15 squares. Three rows five in each. The first row focuses on washes of ink, followed by wax then bleach. 
2. The process is the same for each material. There really is no rules for this as you're just finding different ways to apply the material. For ink you could try brushing and dripping either on dry or wet paper using a paintbrush. You could also try diluting the water.
3. For the wax resist you either use candle wax (tea light) or melted wax which is known as batik (refer back to me post on this if you can't remember how to use it). The wax acts as the resist so when you wash ink over the top its repelled off those sections of wax. Try drawing with both waxes and applying the ink in different ways.
4. Then for the bleach. This is applied last. First you need to brush ink onto paper and allow to dry. The ink has to be a proper quink ink. After that you can draw back into it with the bleach. The bleach can also be diluted with water. You could also try drawing back into the ink with the bleach when the inks still wet.
5. After that if you want you can try combining all three materials and see what kind of effects you can produce. 
6. For my extension i used a combo of tea light wax, bleach and ink to create an eerie Church setting in the style of John Piper. I just followed the sets above to create highlighted areas and texture.

Things to remember: 

1. There is no right or wrong you can play around with the material as much as you like.
2. Try using things like cotton buds and cocktail sticks to produce interesting lines. 

Health & safety: 

Bleach- 

1. Always use bleach in a well ventilated area.
2. Transfer only a small amount of bleach into a pot to use to minimise fumes.
3. Do not get bleach on clothing - it will remove the colour and can cause the fabric to rot.
4. If bleach splashes onto skin or clothing- dilute immediately with cold water.

Hot wax:

1. Do not let hot wax drip onto skin - if it does run under cold water for a few minutes.
2. Place wax pot on a stable surface - do not move until completely cold.