Batik Paintings in India

Batik painting is an ancient art of making paintings using Wax. It is a demanding art and the artist has to be very skilled because the final design must be conceived before the picture is begun. Batik art is supposed to be 2000 years old and is not specific to one region. It is practiced in different parts of the world. The batik artist works intimately with color; if he wishes parts of his design to be light blue, for example, all these parts must be waxed at the same time before any subsequent dyeing.

Origin
Batik or Batique painting is an ancient art form and is believed to be originated in Indonesia. Batik is derived from the word “Ambatik” which means clothes with many dots. Some attribute this art to ancient Egypt or Sumatra. Whatever is the origin but it is clear that this art is popular art that is practiced in many regions of the world such as India, Sri Lanka, Iran and Thailand.

Batik paintings in India
Batik painting can be procured from different parts of India. The themes used mainly in the Batik paintings are both religious as well as abstract. The major Batik art centers in India are Orissa, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

Technique of Making Batik Paintings
Simply speaking, Batik painting is a common wax-proof coloring procedure which is applied on the fabric. Wax is the basic material used for making batik painting. The procedure involves heating of the wax to the liquid state which is then applied onto the fabric prior to being dished in a colored dye.

The basic idea behind the use of wax is that the areas on the fabric where the wax has soaked itself will not get infiltrated by the colored dye. Wax is applied on the fabric by using special brush, hammering the wax directly on the fabric and putting the boiled and liquefied wax to an already designed timber slab or block and then quickly pounding onto the fabric. After the completion of whole process, batik painting is hanged up on a wire to get dry.

Crackle Effect
Crackle is a unique aspect of the Batik painting. When the waxed cloth is dipped in the cold dye bath, crack is formed. The cracks of wax results in the formation of veins of darker colour on the lighter areas. To have more crackle effects on the design, the proportion of wax could be reversed to one part bee wax and two parts paraffin wax adding a little resin. Paraffin wax crackles faster than bee wax. The full effect of crackling can be seen when the wax is ironed out or removed by boiling

Hand-made designs are also carved on these paintings rather than being entwined because if the designs are made by hand it permits extra creative choice to the painter. Batik paintings are also popular because of their resilience.

Dewaxing
Dewaxing is the final stage after dyeing and waxing. The wax is removed by ironing with a moderately hot iron. While ironing, good layer of newspaper underneath the material and a single sheet on top is used. Extra wax is absorbed by the paper. The paper should be renewed as they become soaked with wax. If too much wax is remaining even after ironing, the cloth should be dry cleaned. Now the cloth is ready to use. Try out this with any design, according to your idea to make a wonderful garment for yourself.