Clean the Size
Drag a piece of newspaper across the size to remove dust and "skin" that's formed on its surface. Crush bubbles with crumpled newspaper, or touch them with a small dry object, such as the head of a pin.
Buckets Ready
Place a trash bucket and few buckets of water under your work area.
Prepare Paints
Pour a little paint in a squeeze bottle and add distilled water to thin it to the consistency of light cream. Place a drop of the paint onto the surface of the size. It should spread into a circle. If it sinks, add a little more water and re-test. Prepare each color in the same way.Opaque paints can be a bit temperamental, sometimes not spreading as readily as other paints. Some paints need more dilution than others, but adding too much water weakens the color.
Dharma carries a dispersant that helps you float problem paints.
Skim the size again to remove bits of paint.
Get Fabric Ready
If you're working alone, attach dowels to both ends of a piece of fabric and set it aside in a dry spot, away from water droplets that would dilute the alum.Begin dropping paint on the size, applying colors randomly or in rows across your tray. Colors placed on the size first will intensify as new colors are placed on top of them. The last color applied will be the most predominant in your fabric.
Place contrasting colors next to each other, as you do when making a quilt. Unless they are combed excessively, paints will not blend together to form new colors.
