Neocolor II Watersoluble Wax Pastels Tutorial--Leaf

Leaf, Art Quilt, (7" x 7")

Fannie Narte

This tutorial documents my steps in creating this "Leaf" art quilt using Neocolor II Watersoluble Wax Pastels.

SUPPLIES

7" x 7" square of Pellon Peltex 72,
Water Soluble Marker by Clover

Fan brush

I used the following Neocolor II wax pastels: Background: (Top left diagonal half) Naples Yellow, Cinnamon, Light Ochre; (Bottom right diagonal half) Light Ochre, Bronze, Russet. Leaf: Moss Green, Olive, Green Ochre, Gold, Olive Brown (leaf veins).

Additional Supplies:

8" x 8" square white muslin, water, parchment paper, 9" x 9" square batting, black thread

Step 1

I traced a 7" x 7" square onto the 8" x 8" square of white muslin using a water soluble marker.

Next, I applied the pastels onto the muslin. I applied the pastels freely and without much thought. It looks raw, doesn't it? At this stage, this painting doesn't look like it will turn into anything pretty.

In more intricate pieces like a rose, I will sketch a line drawing onto the white muslin using a water soluble marker, then apply the pastels. However, because this art quilt is a simple leaf design, I applied the pastels directly to the muslin without the use of a line drawing.

Step 2

Dip the fan brush into a container of water and apply the water directly to the piece using circular brush strokes. This is when the magic happens. It's exciting to see the piece come to life and see the colors blend. In this image, water was applied to the bottom third of the piece.

The following image shows what the piece looks like after the entire piece has been completely blended with water. Doesn't it look like an abstract piece of art without form?


Next, allow the piece to dry. Sometimes I use a hair dryer to speed up the process. However, the color mixing is interrupted prematurely by using the dryer. If the piece is allowed to dry naturally, the colors will continue to blend throughout the drying process as you can see in the following image. The colors on the wet piece always looks darker. Compare the above image to the following image.

This image is what the piece looks like after drying naturally.

Step 3

After the piece has completely dried, place a piece of parchment paper over the image and iron it to heat set the image.

Next, layer the piece of batting over the 7" x 7" square of Pellon Peltex 72, and place the painted fabric on top of the batting. Drop the feed dogs and stitch the outline of the leaf with black thread.

Step 4

In this image, I added a wavy line of stitching using black thread over the first stitching shown in Step 3.

Step 5

I basted the three layers of the quilt, stitching from the back side, closely following two edges of the Pellon Peltex creating an L-shape line. Note: In this step, I turned the piece upside down before stitching--the Pellon Peltex faces up, and the painting is faced down. This image shows what the stitching looks like from the right side.

Step 6

This image shows the quilt after the excess fabric and batting was cut.

Step 7

Free-motion quilting using black thread is added. One of my favorite quilting designs is this wood-like stitching.
More free-motion stitching is added to the background.

Step 8
Finished

The quilt is trimmed to 7" x 7" and the edges are finished.

This is how I create most of my art quilts using Neocolors. My technique is not scientific. The results are best if you don't fuss too much about being "exact." This medium is forgiving because you can add color to the painting when its wet "and" when it's dry.

I hope this tutorial makes sense. If not, leave a comment on this post or send me an e-mail and let me know.

Click HERE for all of my Neocolor II posts, which includes artwork and techniques.

Note: My Neocolor II posts consist of more than one page. When accessing these posts through this link, you'll need to click on "Older Posts" located after the last post on the current page to go to the following page. You can access this same information by clicking on "Neocolor II" under the "Labels" tab in the sidebar of my blog, which is located on the right side.

Now it's your turn. Time for you to play. Have fun!