Recently I’m planning for a new trip. while I was looking in my closet, wondering if any new clothes came up. But only some tee shirts piled up the front row. Suddenly this blank black tee caught my eye. This one is my most favorite and I want to bring it with me. Looking at this plain black tee buried in the back of my closet, a lightbulb went off. Why not transform it into something new? I always love to wear my custom dress and this time, I took this one as my new project!
While thinking about what to paint, I couldn't come up with anything. After some brainstorming and doodling, I settled on doing typography. I’m very noob with curving letters. But I have my interest in playing with letters so I had a workshop on “calligraphy” a few years back. From my little experience I took the challenge!
The hardest part was what to quote on this tee! The Friday company’s motto is sharing information, world updates with the people. After thinking about the company motto, I came up with this line - “spread knowledge!”
Before painting my imagination, I sketched out the whole idea. As a noob artist, I didn’t want to take any risk. To make the surface smooth, I carefully laid the t-shirt flat and slipped the piece of cardboard inside.
As the background is black, I couldn’t go with pencils. I took my white pen and drew those letters. I tried to write in cursive but you can tell I literally suck at it!
I didn’t want only to put those letters on the cloth. For the design purpose, I wondered what type of drawing would go with the words. It’s really hard to bring any design with these kinds of motivational lines. Then suddenly, this idea came to my mind. Why not arrange some splashing water droplets around the quote? If I keep the quote in the center of the t-shirt, then the droplets can flow over the words. I try to symbolize the droplets with pieces of information that are spreading around. Nice idea, right?
After this, the colors come up! I wanted to make a vivid painting with a lot of colors. I chose acrylic color to paint as this one is the best for clothes. And for brush, I used a medium-sized and a small size brush, to cover more space quickly while still maintaining control. You can wash your tee for a hundred times but the color won’t come out! As the background is black, I had to paint the whole drawing with white color.
Once the base layers dried, I moved on to the details. I bring three light shade colors and blend all of it. To me, orange, ocean blue and cyan color go well together. And I wasn’t wrong! See how beautifully those shades blend with one another! It gives my design a more dimensional and vibrant look.
After letting the paint dry completely, I ironed the shirt inside out for a few minutes on a medium-high setting. To make the paint secure. Most fabric paints require heat-setting. It’s crucial to place a piece of fabric or parchment paper between the iron and the painted design to avoid any damage.
And lastly, to make the art more eye-catching, I put white shades as the border of the droplets. After all the effort and patience, it was time for the big reveal. When I was done with my work, I couldn’t take my eyes off it! It was really pretty! Making the decision to paint this piece was worth it!
Putting on the t-shirt for the first time was incredibly satisfying. It felt like wearing a piece of my own creativity and individuality. Painting a t-shirt was more than just a craft project; it was a way to express myself and breathe new life into an old piece of clothing. Whether you’re an experienced artist or a novice looking to try something new, painting a t-shirt is rewarding and enjoyable. So grab your favourite plain tee, put some colour and let your imagination run wild! Trust me, the satisfaction of wearing your own painted dress beats all!!
Happy painting!!