A dying technique – see batik and silk painting, that global but with varied patterning, effects and colouration.
Essentially:
a) wax is applied to textile by brush or pen to outline the design, and thickly enough to seep into the fabric, filling the gaps between every fibre.
b) when the textile is dipped into the dye bath the waxed areas resist the dye and retain the colour of the back cloth.
c) the resultant pattern is clear with soft edges where the dye has lightly penetrated.
d) the wax is then removed by boiling or least washing at a high temperature
Another form of wax resist is to partially break or crack the wax before the printing, so that as the dye penetrates it creates a much more random design or striata or rippled effect.
In silk printing, the dye is applied to the flat surface of the length of fabric which is fixed to a frame or table. Hot wax pen is used to outline pattern or space, so preventing any dye seeping into the next space.