Hand Painting Flags How to Paint Start to Finish

There are many ways to start painting flags, before we jump into the fun stuff there are a few things we should go through.

I paint on both silk and polyester, they use the same process but different paints and dyes. Just to keep this simple I am going to focus on silk.

The best quality is habotai 8mm silk, there are many other qualities but I prefer 8mm its more durable the the finer silk and its about the same weight as the traditional polychina silk flags.

Silk Painting Equipment
Here are a few things that I uses to paint flags: a frame to stretch the silk on, silk paints or dyes, charcoal pencil, brushes, sponges, resistant and steamer.

Any frame will do, I use C-clamps to adjust my wood frames with rubber bands and safety pins to secure the silk to the frame (very easy and works great for silk flags)

Hand Painted Silk Flag Attached to Frame

Silk Paint or Dyes?

This is where things can get interesting, if you want to get into silk painting as an art you will need to get familiar with both of theses. But for now I will just share what I used on this set of silk flags "Serpent" and "Wheat" both flag designs use an acid base dye, not harsh acid more like vinegar and lemon acid.

I mix my own colors in a large batch, I make a little more then what I think I will need to complete a set. Helpful hit, it takes about 1/2 cup of dye per standard flag. It's very important to make sure you have enough dye made of each color, its very difficult to remix the same color when mixing on the fly...

Transferring the Design 

I like to use a soft charcoal to do this, a soft pencil will work too. These lines will wash out after the dyes have been fixed.  

Resistants

Before painting a resistant must be applied to stop the flow of the dyes. There are many types of resistance, water and solvent based some wash out and some stay on the silk. For this design I used plain old candle making wax with a little bees wax mixed in. But Candle making wax will do just fine. I like the smell of the bees wax, I feel more "artsy" when I use it! 

Using wax can be a little scary because its hot, cold wax could be substituted or a water base gutta could also be used. 

I like using wax because I don't have to wait for it to dry and I can paint it on with a round brush. Also, my hand does not hurt from squeezing, when using gutta.  The down side to wax, there are no room for errors! If a mistake is made I have to start all over after removing the wax. Wax is a little temperamental it has to be the right temperature to use it and its not easy to remove from the silk. When using hot wax you will need to paint in a well ventilated area. The fumes can be toxic.

Painting The Flag

Here you can see the wax painted on the flag and how it looks after it is painted. This American Flag Design was a custom request for "Hazard Band of Gold" it uses both silk paints and dyes for a distressed weathered effect. 

American Flag Hand Painted With Silk Paint and Wax

After the hot wax is applied the dyes are brushed on the silk, I use both brushes and foam brushes depending on the look. The flags below I have used foam brushes with two colors of dyes. The two colors are faded together by hand a processes called burning. 

Serpent Flag Design hand Painted on Silk Flag

Wheat Hand Painted Flag with Wax and Acid Dyes

Steam Setting the Dyes

After the silks are dry, they are wrapped up in layers of paper to be steamed. This is how the dyes get premaritally bonded to the silk. 

The flags will steam any where from 3-6 hours depending on the colors used and how many silks there are wrapped in a roll. 

Roll of Silk Flags Ready for the Steamer 

Sewing and Removing Wax

After they are steamed they are sewn with a pole casing and a rolled hem to finish the edges of the flag. 

Removing the wax is done by washing the silk, it takes about 3 or 4 wash and rinse cycles to remove the excess dyes and wax with a textile detergent. I give them a final rinse to restore the ph balance of the silk.

Each flag is inspected and signed, ironed and folded.

That's it, tape them up and give them a whirl or chirl!