| What is batik? I can safely make this statement that | | | | Finally, he paints the blue background. |
| while many people know or have heard about this | | | | And of course, the artist will later have to wash the |
| word, especially so here in Malaysia, Singapore and | | | | wax off the cloth, hence leaving that part which was |
| Indonesia, but many people do not, or rather, have got | | | | originally covered with wax back to its original white |
| a wrong misconception of batik itself. | | | | fabric colour. Hence, the white outline for the motif. And |
| In my discussions with friends and general public, many | | | | that is all it is to the meaning of batik. |
| people have mistaken batik with batik design/ batik | | | | However as mentioned earlier, a lot of people mistake |
| designs or even batik fabric. | | | | batik with batik design/ batik designs especially if they |
| History has it that batik is an old craft that dates | | | | see a traditional or floral type motif, or patterns on a |
| centuries back. Batik is actually a hand-drawn and | | | | cloth that have white outlines. These may or may not |
| hand-painted technique, which uses wax. | | | | necessary come from the 'batik' technique, as it could |
| The wax is a form of 'resist' method, and the purpose | | | | come from modern day print. |
| of this method is so that when colour is put on a | | | | In addition, just because these prints have the more |
| certain spot on the fabric, it does not run to the other | | | | traditional motifs/ patterns, don't mistake them to come |
| part. Let's take an example - an artist is is going to | | | | from the art form of batik. |
| draw a floral motif and he wants the background blue | | | | In fact, there are modern designs, which actually are |
| eg. the motif of a flower (a yellow flower with a green | | | | made from the batik technique as well. But people do |
| stalk). | | | | not know it is so because it does not have the |
| Now, imagine that the artist will be drawing on a white | | | | traditional look and feel to it. |
| piece of cloth. The artist will first draw the outline of | | | | So my suggestion to you that if you appreciate art, |
| the motif (ie. the flower & stalk) with wax. And later, he | | | | and batik in particular, first be aware whether the |
| will start to paint, starting with the yellow colour of the | | | | fabric you buy really comes from the batik art. And |
| flower. What the wax does is to hold the yellow in | | | | secondly to be open minded to embrace the change in |
| place, so that it will not run to the green stalk. And | | | | modern times that batik need not necessary relate just |
| when he paints with green next, the same thing applies, | | | | to old motif/ patterns. |
| that is the green will not flow to the yellow flower. | | | | |