A pebble path through smooth lawnWarm gray and green. Salt the path while wet and leave the lawn untouched so the two textures differ.
Storm clouds rolling in from one corner of the silkSlate gray, violet and a pale yellow. Start in the corner and let the grays feather out toward bare silk.
A sunset in three bands that melt into one anotherYellow, coral and violet. No outline at all: on silk misted first, each band spreads into the next.
A chart of invented islands, each coastline a closed loopSea blue, sand and green. Every island is one unbroken resist line; drop color in and let it find the edge.
A dragonfly over lily pads with wing veins drawn in resistTurquoise, lime and violet. The veins stay undyed, so the wings read as pale lace over the color.
A leaf skeleton whose veins stay the color of the silkTwo greens and a yellow. Draw the midrib and veins in resist and color the cells between them.
A monogram in double-line letters, ringed with outlined ivyTwo greens and one accent. Letters first, as double lines that close at both ends, then the leaves around them.
A shelf of teapots, a different pattern inside each outlineAny five colors. Draw the pots as closed shapes, then smaller closed shapes inside for spots and bands.
Amber honeycomb with a few cells left the color of the silkAmber and gold. Six-sided cells sharing walls. The resist lines themselves stay bare when it is done.
Koi circling under resist ripples, scales as tiny closed loopsOrange, white, black and blue-green. Outline the fish first; the water is filled in around them afterward.
Leaded-glass panes, each one a closed resist shape with a single colorSix clear colors. Draw every pane as a closed shape in resist and let it dry before any color goes in.
Mirrored butterfly wings with cells like leaded glassOrange, yellow and black. Fold the silk's pattern in half on paper first so both wings share one outline.
Peacock feather eyes in rings of blue, green and bronzeRoyal blue, emerald and bronze. Three closed rings per eye. Fill from the middle ring outward.
Poppy field with every stem a resist lineScarlet, black and two greens. Close each petal's outline completely, or the red runs into the field.
Tiled rooftops of a hill town, every roof its own outlineTerracotta, ocher and dusty pink. Overlap the roofs like scales; no outline may stop short of its neighbor.
Wet blends and washes 12
A galaxy turned with one curving brushstroke, arms softening as they spreadViolet, ultramarine, magenta. Work on misted silk from the middle outward and leave the edges to blur.
A meadow in fog, greens fading upward into bare silkTwo greens. Strongest at the bottom edge; stop adding color halfway up and let the wet edge fade out.
A ripe peach fade from yellow through coral to deep redYellow, coral, crimson. Three touches of color side by side on misted silk, left alone to meet.
A sunset in three bands that melt into one anotherYellow, coral and violet. No outline at all: on silk misted first, each band spreads into the next.
An atoll from the air: sea green in the middle ringed by teal and ink blueSea green, teal and ink blue. Drop the palest color in the middle of misted silk and ring it with the darker two.
An autumn wood as blurred patches of rust and goldRust, gold, olive and brown. Touch the colors in side by side; where two meet they blend without a line.
City lights in rain: soft yellow dots on blue-grayBlue-gray and warm yellow. Lay the gray wash, then touch yellow into it while wet so each light has a halo.
Dawn over still water, peach above and its paler echo belowPeach, rose and pale blue. Leave a strip of bare silk across the middle as the horizon's light.
One huge peony as soft-edged blots of pinkThree pinks and a touch of yellow. Place each petal as one loaded touch of the brush and let it spread.
Storm clouds rolling in from one corner of the silkSlate gray, violet and a pale yellow. Start in the corner and let the grays feather out toward bare silk.
Three hazy ridgelines in one blue-gray, the far one barely thereOne blue-gray in three strengths. Lay the palest ridge first and let each edge dry soft before the next.
Veils of green and violet light across a dark skyEmerald, violet and indigo. Drop the bright colors first and bring the dark in around them while all is wet.
Salt textures 12
A coral reef in orange and pink with a mottled sea bedOrange, pink, turquoise. Salt the lower third, wet; the open water above stays an even wash.
A dry-stone wall in resist with salted green in every jointStone gray and moss green. Outline the stones in resist; salt goes only on the green between them.
A pebble path through smooth lawnWarm gray and green. Salt the path while wet and leave the lawn untouched so the two textures differ.
A speckled trout with salt along its back onlyOlive, rose and silver-gray. Outline the fish in resist, color it, and salt the upper half while wet.
Dandelion clocks, each a ring of salt on a soft green groundSpring green and pale yellow. Drop small rings of salt onto the wet wash, one per seed head.
Firework bursts where pinches of salt land on wet red and goldRed, gold and midnight blue. Drop salt in small heaps onto wet color; each heap pulls the color into a burst.
Foam along a painted shoreline where sea meets sandTeal and sand. Sprinkle a line of salt where the two colors touch while both are wet.
Indigo and violet midnight, salted while wet for a mottled skyIndigo and violet. Sprinkle the salt over the whole wash; each grain draws the color toward it.
Lichen patches on a gray boulderGray, sage and mustard. Salt only the sage and mustard patches, wet, and leave the gray smooth.
Salt frost feathering in from two corners of a thin blue washIce blue and gray. Salt goes on in drifts from two corners while the wash is wet. Brush it off when dry.
Salted desert ground beneath a smooth band of dusty violetSand, rust and dusty violet. Salt the ground band while wet and keep the sky band smooth.
Snowfall over a blue-violet dusk and a row of dark firsBlue-violet and deep green. Salt the sky only, wet; paint the firs once the sky is dry and brushed clean.
Scarves and borders 12
A ring of petals centered on a square scarf to frame the knotCoral and leaf green. Outline a circle of petals around the middle and leave the very center plain.
A salt-textured middle inside a smooth dark borderNavy and one bright color. Resist a line a hand's width in from the hem; salt only inside it, while wet.
A scarf border of fan-shaped leaves around a plain middleGold and olive. Outline the leaves in resist along all four edges; the center stays one flat color.
A shell, a star, a leaf and a moon, one outlined in each corner of a scarfOne background color and four accents. Close each motif's outline; the middle stays a quiet flat wash.
A vine running both long edges of a scarfTwo greens and a berry color. Resist the stem as one long wavy line with closed leaves on either side.
A wave border in resist around a blended seaTurquoise, teal and white silk. Outline the wave scrolls at the edge; blend the center wet with no lines.
A wide blended band at each end of a long scarfTwo colors that mix well. Mist only the ends and blend there; the middle stays the color of the silk.
Big soft squares that read however the scarf is foldedFour related colors. Touch in squares side by side on misted silk and let their edges meet.
Diagonal stripes that still show when the scarf is rolledThree colors. Run resist lines corner to corner so every stripe is closed off by the hems.
Dots that crowd toward the ends of a scarf and grow sparse in the middleOne color on bare silk. Each dot is a small closed ring of resist with a drop of color inside.
Feathers falling along one diagonal of a square scarfGray, teal and gold. Outline each feather; lay them from one corner to the opposite, turning as they fall.
One oversized flower placed off center, so a petal shows in any knotTwo pinks and a green. Outline the flower large enough to run off two edges of the silk.
How it works
Silk is stretched in a frame and painted with dyes or textile paints, and a resist line stops the color where it is drawn. These 48 silk painting ideas are sorted by technique: outline, wet blend, salt, and scarves.
Read the full guide
Outline, blend or salt
Resist outlines holds designs of closed shapes, such as leaded-glass panes with a single color in each. Wet blends and washes has no lines at all: a sunset in three bands that melt into one another. Salt textures puts salt on wet color, as in an indigo and violet midnight salted while wet.
Painted silk scarf ideas
Scarves and borders is planned for cloth that gets folded and tied: diagonal stripes that still show when the scarf is rolled, a vine along both long edges, one oversized flower placed off center.
A gap in a resist line lets color through. Check each outline is closed before painting.
Fixing and washing differ by product. Follow the label of your dye or paint.
Questions and answers
What do you need for silk painting?
Silk stretched in a frame, silk dyes or textile paints, soft brushes and a resist for outlines. Salt is the only extra the Salt textures group asks for.
What is a resist in silk painting?
A line drawn on the silk that keeps dye from reaching the cloth beneath it, so colors on either side stay apart. Gutta is one resist, and it allows fine patterns. The line is left to dry before painting.
What does salt do in silk painting?
Salt sprinkled on wet color draws the paint toward each grain and leaves a mottled texture. The Salt textures designs use it for frost, lichen, sea foam and falling snow.
How do you get soft edges on silk?
By painting with no resist on silk that is still wet: the color spreads and dries with a soft, fuzzy edge. Lines painted on dry silk dry with a hard edge.
How do you set the colors?
It depends on the product: some silk paints are set with an iron and some dyes must be set with steam. This page does not test products, so follow the label of yours.