Through the Stages 3: The Ugly Phase

There is always a stage in batik when you look at it and say "This looks so awful... why should I even bother to continue?" While I don't think my current batik is terrible right now, exactly, I am certainly not in LOVE with it. This is what I call the "Ugly Phase".

I spent last Friday adding more of the dye colors to my composition. While some colors seem to work together, others do not seem to be quite as harmonious.

At this stage I begin to doubt... "Did I make the right color choices?"... "Should I have applied that technique differently?"... "OMG, is that too dark?"... "What the hell am I going to do for the background?" Really, this is piss-poor planning on my part. My husband always complains that I throw myself into my art without having a firm plan or path to achieving it. I tend to wing it.

I guess I think of the process of batik as being more instinctive. There is no right or wrong... just choices to be made. That is one of the things I love about my Friday night batikers. Initially they would ask me, "What do I do next?" and I would give them a list of options. Then they would make a decision and learn from it. Now, instead of asking me what to do, they actually present me with their own options that I may have not even considered... and now I learn from them as well.

Anyway, I put a wash of periwinkle on the background so that I can wax out some of the rain in this color. The intention is for the background to become much darker (blocking out the periwinkle I don't need) so that the bright colors in the rest of the image will pop. "Popping" is what gets the batik out of its "Ugly Phase." The introduction of dramatic contrast between dark and color will give the final image its luminescence, like that of a stained glass window in the sunlight. Sadly, that stage comes much later, and until then, I will have to continue living with my doubts and trusting my instincts.