Silk Screen Printing: How I Developed Fabric Designs Inspired By China

In my summer class, Textile Design, I learn about various techniques of developing fabric designs. I already shared with my adventures in monoprint and relief and block printing. This time, let's take a look about how China inspired by silk screen designs.

To develop fabric patterns, one starts with inspiration. I researched China, its history and imagery. I came across beautiful paintings - I put the photos into my sketchbook and started drawing symbols and objects inspired by what I saw in the photos. As you can see below, my first silk screening design is of birds. I found that traditional Chinese painting portray nature - flowers, trees, and birds. I sketched a simplified/abstracted version of the birds and made a stencil for my silk screen design for a 100% cotton fabric. I show you the process of stencil creation in my bamboo-inspired design. 

Architecture - houses, palaces, pagodas - is another topic frequently represented in Chinese imagery. So, I created a stencil of a pagoda reflecting itself in water. The final symbol is lovely and could be used to develop many variations of a fabric pattern. 

And final, China is famous for its calligraphy and intricate symbols. I sketched options in my sketchbook and then created two templates - one to be printed in red; one in black. The symbols are abstract, yet they tie nicely to the inspiration for my work. 

I have very much enjoyed learning about silk screening and using Chinese imagery to develop my fabric designs and patterns. I am looking forward to learning more!