I choose to work on a high count, good quality fabric. I don't pre wash the fabric because I need the sizing to assist with the ink. I'm not too sure how it works, but it seems to prevent the inks from bleeding.
In this photo I have traced the image onto the fabric with a mechanical pencil.
I outlined the image with a .5 black pigma ink pen.
You can see, I get a crisp line with no bleeding. The ink actually is dying the fabric, not sitting on the surface.
I used Derwent color pencils and just lightly formed a base for the eye.
I added a little orange
Dark green at the top, graduating down to a lime green. I could add more color but with the layers of pencil it gets a little waxy and I want to add pen on the top of the pencil so I kept the layers to a minimum.
I've added fine lines and dots with a .1 black pigma ink pen. (for those of you living in Australia,) I use a mitsubishi Uni pin pen, you can purchase them at office works.
finally I outline the eye with the .5 black pigma pen. It gives depth and a softness to the eye.
White Tsukineko all purpose ink adds the flash.
Thes are the pens and pencils I used....
I tried using watercolor pencils first, but I don't have as much success, as soon as you add water to the fabric, it bleeds.
