After you stretch the silk, you are ready to paint.  At the beginning, you are going to start with the under painting.  Then, develop it further into a more complex design.  

                               ------- by Sanchia Lin

Under Painting
It takes some practice to get familiar with the ways dyes run, and the effects created by the alcohol and sea salt.  Therefore, it is good to start with some simple shapes.  Using form brushes to do these shapes. 

You can see from the picture at the right.  I scattered some of my favorite colors across the silk at the beginning.  There are two sets of vertical bars and some night blue and purple irregular shapes around them.  Then, I sprayed alcohol into these colorful shapes.  After that, some salt were dropped into the wet surface and left to dry.

Developing a Design 
Sometimes, it is very easy to further develop your under painting into a good design.  All you have to do is add some lines or color to make the image meaningful to you.  However, there might be a time where the under painting just does not speak to you.  If this happens, you might look into my suggestion as follows.  

Hang your painting on the wall and look at it whenever you get the chance.  One day, something will come across your mind.  At that moment, you will be able to visualize and fit in everything you like to show on the painting.  Never give up is the key to success!