Raven and Sparrow

Adding color

Yesterday I finished the waxing on Mo's pennant and sprayed it with aluminum acetate (I mordanted with alum sulfate before I started any of this) and let it soak in overnight. Then I mixed two yellows (weld and myrobalan) and one red (cochineal) and carefully painted the hearts and the sky behind the moon. The wax kept the color from running out of the lines so I didn't use any thickening. The plan is to dip the whole pennant into a light bath of indigo to turn the yellows into green and the red into purple, but first I want to let these colors sit for a while to bite as thoroughly as they can. Onward.

Fine lines in runny wax

Time has been dragging its feet, mostly, but I finally got going on Mo's pennant. I have been worried about waxing my design on it because of the fineness of the lines. My smallest tjanting tool was just too big and I knew I would make a mess of it. Then I remembered the tiny brass tjanting I bought years ago for I don't know what. I think I was going to use it for ink, but I never did. I tried it out and found that it made a good line, but that it was hard to keep the wax hot enough because the well is so small. I turned up the temperature of the wax bath and plunged in. The handle got really hot so I had to wrap it in tape and wear a glove, but it worked in the end.