learning batik

I am currently experimenting with teaching myself how to do batik and to combine it in a mixed media approach with needle felting. The bear on this blog was my first attempt. I am currently working on my third. So far I have experimented with applying wax to silk with brushes. For my next piece I want to learn how to add more details by getting the hang of the tjanting tool. It will take some practice, so I will be experimenting randomly on small pieces of silk to gain the kind of control over wax application that I want. I discovered that the tjanting that I have currently is not a very good one and leaks more than it should based on examples I have seen on various sites and YouTube videos.
So far I like the results of my current piece for its painterly effects. Many batik artits use sharp defined lines. I will continue to build on the painterly results I have achieved in my first three pieces and build on that with more detail as I get more practice with experiementing.
I will post examples of how my work is developing in the near future.
My second piece will be part of a silent auction for a theatre company in Quebec in February. The majority of that piece is needle felting with some painterly batik in the background.
Stay tuned for photographs.
I have also found that if I want to include some shibori effects into the piece, the most effective way is to do my first layer in shibori and then do subsequent layers in batik. The micorowave approach is not very effective. Most of my work, however, will be just batik and needle felt. As I get more skilled at the batik, I will begin to develop compositions which have felted accents with more details in the batik, depending on the effect I will go for in a given piece.