Bag With A Sling: Painting Fashionable African Ladies Part 6 of 6

We have finally reached the last blog in a series on how to construct 'Art Bags.' These are bags where the focal point are the centre panels, which are hand painted with elongated figures. The first two blogs in the series dealt with the pattern and construction of the bag. This was followed by three blogs in which I shared step by step tips on painting the figures on the bags. Today I share the last of these painting blogs, when I show you how to paint some fashionable African ladies.

I start by painting the backgrounds of the centre panels yellow.

The wet yellow paint from the previous paint job was showing through my blue, but I had foreseen this and I hoped that it would create greenish deposits in the blue. I like how this is turning out.

I allow the paint to dry and then I fix the colour to the fabric by ironing it with a hot iron.

I do the drawings with Dala Acrylic Ink in black, using a dip pen with a medium tip.

I start at the head and elongated neck.

I draw the arms and shoulders.

I draw the bodice and outline for the legs.

The skirt is completed with its detail.

I then add some pots to make the picture a little more interesting.

The second figure is done much the same way as the first.

I lay them down side by side so that I can paint them at the same time. I use Dala Fabric Paint to paint them in.

I do the flesh parts in black.

I add white in strategic places.

I bring in yellow. The yellow is very transparent, allowing the blue background to shine through, making it almost seem green.

I add red.

I then add a bluish green.

Lastly, I come in with maroon.

Once the paint is dry, I fix the colours to the fabric with a hot iron.

This is what the bag looks like once finished. This is a view of the inside of the bag.

One side of the bag.

The reverse side of the bag.

This is what the complete range of bags look like that was made for this blog series.

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy my books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.
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