Lines as fine as sewing thread
Posted by Catherine Cartwright Jones on October 31, 1999 at 16:32:35:
In Reply to: superfine lines - how? posted by Anon on October 30, 1999 at 13:48:25:
Tendancy to make tiny delicate threads that hold their shape .... uhhh
... sliminess.
I've been pushing for rediculously fiddly stuff lately, just out of
perversity....looks like the finite thinness of a henna line is a
single fingerprint ridge (the henna stain spreads out to fill a whole
skin cell) . However, lines that fine don't penetrate much, and don't
last long. The finest lines I've gotten have been single sewing
thread size. The most useful fine lines, for color evenness and
depth, though, is the size of 6 sewing threads twisted tightly
together. That will duplicate the "Ultramodern Mehandi Patterns" by
Pushplata Bangur, Gala Publishing.
Some henna powders will let you do superfine, some won't . When you
land a powder that stirs up slightly goopy and slimy, (like a handful
of blue-green algae from a pond) that's your ticket. I suspect
different weather conditions and different soils, cifferent harvest
times are going to affect this quite a bit, as you're balancing leaf
pith and cellulose. Pithier is better. The finest lines I've gotten
have been from henna harvested right after the rainy season. The only
real trick is to just sift the stuff fine as possible. You get finer
lines with oil paint than plaster because the particles are tinier.
For teeeeeeeny lines, an eliptical shaped slit orifice is better than
round. That's the shape of orifice I get from a carrot bag (having
nothing to do with carrots). They flatten down less.
You paste HAS to be absolutely lumpless. If I had a food processor,
I'd definitely use it. When your paste is doing the overnight thing,
cover it with a lid or plastic...those little dried out bits are hell
to stir back in.
Sometimes a bit of honey helps, sometimes it's not necessary. It
depends on the henna. Try stuff. See what works for you and your
henna. There are probably many ways (okra, honey, pomegranite syrup,
methys...) to get the consistancy you need. Sometimes I've done it
with nothing but henna and lemon juice. When you get your paste
ready, do some testing on a paper towel and see how your threads draw
out. I don't do drop lines because I can't control them worth a damn.
I mix the paste between toothpaste thickness and stirred up yoghurt
thickness. The paste has to flow easily out of the cone with little
or no pressure, but not be so soft that the line collapses. The line
should keep it's shape, and not flatten out.
I very lightly touch the tip of the cone to the skin, and draw it
along gently, exactly as I would a very fine sable brush doing
watercolor detail. You have to practice a bit to match the spead of
your draw to the consistancy of the paste.
As soon as the lines harden, I spritz lightly with New Skin spray...as
I don't think there's any other way I could seal them without
disturbing them. Also, when the henna lines are up over 8 distinct
parallel lines every centimeter, the NS gets far easier to get off the
next morning.
The last two hands of superfine I did I carefully photographed, only
do discover I'd used slide film (duhhh....bang head on ground) so I am
doing same again tonight with print film (so I can get discs and
jpgs to email when requested). I've got jpgs of fineline work on
hand, but not the superfine. The henna obsessions I have lately are
duplicating the henna work from 1565, Turkey (get out the magnifying
glass) for superfine lines, 360 degree continuous patterns, and the
ammonia-black work, where the tiny lines really look like a miniature
ink drawing, and the fillagree by Pushplata Bangur.
Yes, I did just order 2 new pairs of glasses.