What you need for silk painting is: silk, of course, silk paints, brushes of various sizes, a stretcher frame, either 3 point pins or hooks and rubber bands (to stretch the silk onto your frame), gutta (clear or coloured), pipettes with different size nibs (to apply the gutta on the silk)...
TIP: You can also need cotton buds and blotting paper (to absorb excessive moisture or to blur errors), palette, jars (to mix colours and to put these mixings away)...

Draw the design on paper with a felt tip pen. If you are painting a picture, note that the design has to be smaller than the piece of silk, since you will need a margin to attach it to the frame. Then, the silk must be placed on the wooden frame and stretched tightly with the 3 point pins, placing a pin every 5 or 10 cms approx.
TIP: If you are painting scarfs (with already-finished edges), you'd better to use hooks and rubber bands to attach the silk to the frame, so that we will avoid the paint marks left by the pins.

Place the pattern under the wooden frame and outline it with the gutta. You can do it either with an applicator directly, or with a pipette with a nib. The nibs are of different sizes: a number 10 nib is bigger than a number 3 one, which is very thin. Each colour area must be completely enclosed by the gutta!
TIP: To check the gutta outline, you can hold the silk against the light. Thus, you will find the breaks or gaps in the line , where you will need to apply resist again. This is an essential step for good results.

Once the gutta is dry, you are ready to apply the colours on the outlined areas with a brush. You must be careful, because when the colour touches the silk, it inmediatly spreads towards the gutta barrier and would surpass it if it is broken, so you'd better not to apply the paint too close to the resist.
TIP: If there is too much paint in the brush it will also run beyond the gutta limit. To avoid excessive moisture, use blotting paper.

The colours are fixed by ironing or steaming, depending on the paint. To steam it, roll the silk in newspaper or cotton fabric with tinfoil on the edges, put it into a basket covered by tinfoil, and place it into a pressure cooker with enough water for 1 hour. The basket mustn't touch the water (you can place something under it).
TIP: The method of fixing the colour depends on the chemistry of the dye or paint you are using. Generally, the best results are achieved with dyes fixed with steam. Setting paints with heat will give us a stiff fabric without drape.

Handwash the silk carefully silk with lukewarm water to get rid of the spare dye. Hang it out spread so that the colours won't run. When it's still wet, iron it on the opposite side of the gutta (thus you will not stain your iron) at medium temperature.
TIP: You can wash your silks with an specific soap, but you can also use a soft shampoo. You can see the silk cares by clicking here.

Place the picture tightly into a wooden frame with some pins. Please note that this frame must be 5 cms smaller than the silk piece.
We can do it by placing a pin in the middle of one side, then in the middle of the opposite one, and then the other two sides. We will keep on placing pins towards the ends.
TIP: As the silk is slightly transparent, you can stick the frame and a white cardboard or fabric together. Thus, colours will be even brighter.

Now you have a beautiful, original bright-coloured silk painting. It can be washed separately if it gets dirty or dusty, by using soft soap and cold water.
As any other hand-made painting, it shouldn't be exposed directly to sun, or else it would fade.