Re: Fabulous site -- Template question
Posted by Kenzi on May 08, 2000 at 19:13:18:
In Reply to: Fabulous site -- Template question posted by Jayne on May 08, 2000 at 15:33:29:
: While I did my first design freehand, it was rather simple. I want
to do more complicated swirls and pictures, but I am so afraid to do
it free hand and mess up the design. And I don't really have any
friends that would be interested in this sort of thing to help me
out. So, I'll be doing a lot of this on my own. Anyway, I'm glad to
find this forum, it's incredibly helpful and informative. Now for my
questions.
----One thing that I find helpful when learning to draw freehand with
henna, is to draw the design on paper first, even if you trace it.
this helps you to learn the elements of the design, the strokes
needed to create it. Also, start simple and practice on areas of
skin that are usually hidden. Start out just doing dots, then
straight lines, squiggles, spirals, squares, circles etc. You can
erase them shortly after doing them so they won't show. I have some
more detailed instructions for learning to draw with henna at my
website linked below.
: My first question is, what supplies do you have on hand to "erase"
henna that you have just applied? If you have just applied the
henna, will it immediately stain the skin? Or do you have a few
seconds to remove the error and redraw?
----Henna takes more quickly and darker on the hands and feet so if
you have to erase there, do it quickly, or incorporate the "mistake"
into your design. If you are practicing use other areasof the body
which don't take the henna so quickly; try your thigh or the inside
of your arm. I use toothpicks because they are small thus can get
into small areas of a design and also because they are wood which
sticks to the henna making it possible to lift it off.
: As for the designs. I have thought about maybe printing out
designs on an Avery label sticker and cutting it out using an Exacto
knife, sticking the label to the skin -- since I will be using a self-
adhesive label, and using it as a template. Have any of you done such
a thing? Will it work? Or will the henna seep underneath the label
paper?
---It is possible to make stencils, but I agree with the other posts,
henna will probably leak and bleed with paper labels. You can go with
this same idea but use something plastic like lamination sheets.
There is also something called "frisket" which is mylar or plastic
sheets (some types have adhesive backing to stick to the skin) and it
is used for making stencils. You can use an x-acto blade to cut out
your designs or a stencil burner (which is like a soldering iron but
with a finer tip and you use it to burn a design through the
frisket). This sounds easy but if you are not good at drawing
freehand or hennaing freehand, it might be difficult to burn
stencils - it's the same kind of motion. You can buy stencils and
trace the inside line of them to get a feel for drawing with henna.
: I'm not adept enough to draw freehand with the henna, so I thought
maybe a template using self-adhesive labels would help me out, or
maybe using some kind of writing pen or some other such utensil to
help me out.
---Please don't sell yourself short....it will take practice and you
might find that you are adept enough. We had a discussion here a
while back about drawing in henna with the non-dominant hand and many
people found that it was possible with some practice despite
believing that it was impossible (myself included). I don't believe
that it is a skill that you either have or you don't have; I think
that you can develop the skill with practice.
