Finished Finally!!

I finally finished the painting of La Virgen de Alta Gracia (Our Lady of High Grace) on August 2nd which coincidentally is the feast of La Virgen del Los Angeles (Our Lady of the Angels). Any one who knows me, knows I have an affinity for Angels and the Virgen Mary, so when I finished on the feast of Our Lady of the Angels, I felt a little awestruck. Here are some images of the final painting!!

 

 

 

Painting on fabric was new for me and a learning experience. So I thought I'd share what I learned from painting on fabric and what I would have done differently. Next time, Before I started painting, I would have prepped the fabric with gesso and textile medium to make the blending of the paints easier. I also would have used a little bit of gesso with sealer on the back of the fabric for laundering purposes before painting. I also wouldn't use any metallic paints and definitely no glitter paint because when u iron to set in the acrylic paints, the metallic paints tend to melt and peel up. I also pre-washed the fabric to take out the sizing that most fabrics have. I used natural fiber fabrics to paint on only. I used a Teflon sheet on the painting while ironing to set in the Acrylic paints. I used a Non-yellowing acrylic sealer after heat setting the paints. I waited 24 hours after painting before ironing and sealing.