Silk Diary: An Artist’s Journey from Moscow to Mendocino

Silk Diary is the story of Master Silk Painting Artist Natasha Foucault’s travels, loves, and adventures — a series of escapades most of us only dream of.  Through a writing partnership with Jeanne-Michele Salander, Natasha tells the story of her development as a wearable and fine art silk painting artist and instructor.

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Silk Diary: An Artist's Journey from Moscow to Mendocino

Full Color Illustrated Silk Painting Book written by Natasha Foucault and Jeanne-Michele Salander

80 full color illustrations and 23 Signature Silk Painting technique sections ensure this unique silk painting book to be a valuable resource both to artists interested in fine art silk painting as well as the casual reader interested in this story-book like tale.

Collectable / Signed by the Artist, 175 pages.
Winter Palace Press (January 1, 2006)

ISBN: 978-0977775200

Silk Painting Composition, Silk Painting Techniques

During my travels, I take hundreds of photographs to capture images of the places and scenes I want to paint. Before I take a picture, I use the frame of my viewfinder, to compose the painting setting its basic elements from the outset.

The details of buildings or other landscape elements are often unreadable on a photograph, although colors are recorded fairly accurately. So a few well-executed sketches drawn at the same time as I take the photographs always help me to remember all the sharp details that my eye can see.

I often follow the compositional rule of using three planes of view in my paintings with the sharper brighter details in the plane closest to the viewer and softer colors and fewer details as the planes recede into the distance.

Boat On Roof Greece
Boat on Roof in Santorini, Greece. Silk Painting by Natasha Foucault

Drawing on Silk, Creating Silk Painted Landscapes, Cityscapes, and Still Life

Many students asked me how I decide which details to leave, and which details to remove. I look at the total composition of my final sketch, removing and adding the ones that create the best balance. Often I move a building or a tree to another part of the painting in order to find balance.

The work of photographing and sketching at the beginning of the process is necessary to create a painting that looks natural and effortless. In this painting I eliminated many of the buildings in my photograph to give the painting a sense of serenity. And I added the footprints in the snow to lead the viewers eye through the stone archway to the buildings beyond.

Kideksha On The River Nerl
Kideksha on the River Nerl. Silk Painting by Natasha Foucault
Natasha Foucault

Natasha Foucault • Silk Painting Artist, Author and Instructor

Natasha Foucault began her journal as a classically trained oil painter who moved to silk paints in her early 20’s. Travels, photographs and events soon became themes for her work which explore still life, landscapes, cityscapes, seascapes and contemporary art.

Natasha’s works on silk have been exhibited and sold in both museums and commercial galleries throughout the world. Her workshops on Silk Painting for Fine Artists and Silk Painting for Wearable Art are available from Galli Creative.

Visit Natasha’s website