Bingata (Okinawan: 紅型, literally "red style") is an Okinawan traditional resist dyed cloth, made using stencils and other methods. It is generally brightly colored and features various patterns, usually depicting natural subjects such as fish, water, and flowers.

The thought process for creating bingata pieces is really interesting. Creating your design & stencil (katagami) is similar to screen printing but the painting process is similar to watercolor. Establish your light areas and then come in with darker colors.

My First Design: Sensei encouraged me to add more details and I started cutting out my stencil. My mind is brewing with all of the fun ways I can explore this art more. Fun fact: this class is in Japanese so not only do I get to stretch my art muscles, I get to challenge my language muscles too.

Next step in the bingata process! Turning the paper stencil into a screen. Step 1. Cut the screen to the correct size. Step 2. Adhere the screen to the stencil with a mixture of “cashew” and solvent. Step 3. Make sure the mixture is only covering the stencil and not the white area of the screen. Step 4. Add undiluted “cashew” to the main image of the stencil. Step 5. Let dry. Notes: “Cashew” smells and looks like tar.

Next screen print your design onto fabric using a special water based paste called “nori”. Wait for the nori to dry before you begin painting.

The paint for bingata is actually fabric dyes. There are special bingata rules you should follow. 1/3 of your piece should be darker shades and those darker shades should go in the center and edges of your design. Also only certain darker colors can go over certain lighter colors. For example, when using dark green it can only go over light pink, light yellow, and light green. On my red lily the only dark color I can use is what sensei calls “yellow/red” but really it looks more brown. The restriction about what colors are allowed to mix together keeps the process of making bingata interesting. Oh and each color has it’s own set of brushes. Mixing dyes is a no no.