the pyrate dead
Active Member
you can buy the silk material in that art shop on hardcourt st, which needs to be very tightly stretched over a frame, aluminium ones can be bought, or a very sturdy homemade wood frame would be fine which you would staple the material on at the back of the frame. you can also buy the inks there. you need to look for the tubes that look like normal acrylics called daler-rowney SYSTEM 3 acrylic. the system 3 is important. they will have a whole range of colours. dark colours on light material are obviously easiest to get a strong effect with, but whatever. you need to mix this paint with a pot of daler-rowney system 3 acrylic TEXTILE MEDIUM FOR SCREEN PRINTING. this is a white colour. the white colour disapears on mixing and doesnt effect your end colour. make sure it is textile medium, otherwise it will wash out. these paints are mixed one to one and become your ink.
the image you want to replicate should for simplicitys sake be very bold and blocky. i would try one colour for now. you need to take it to a photocopy shop and print it on to acetate. print out two identical sheets. the reason you need two is that when you shine the light onto the sensitised screen, you want your image to block out all light. sticking two together means you have a darker more opaque image.
if you know someone in ncad its increadibly easy to go in with them one evening and get them to help you burn a screen(put the image onto the screen).otherwise its complicated enough because most people here use big uv machines kinda like sunbeds for burning the image onto the screen(its a photographic type process-the screen is covered with a light sensitive emulsion, and when dried in the dark, the image is placed on the screen and exposed to light. the areas that light cant get through will not become exposed, so your image wont be exposed. you then quickly wash off the emulsion leaving gaps where your image was and blocked out areas around it.) the fact that everyone uses the heavey duty uv machines means that they phased out photo emulsions that work with strong lightbulbs and homemade set-ups. they just wernt selling anymore. if you cant get someone to smuggle you in to one of the big machines you will most likely have to order a specific type of photo emulsion suitable for the type of light that homemade lightboxes emit. these are usually available from american art supply stores as there is alot more screen printing still going on there. two sites to try are www.victoryfactory.com and www.standardscreen.com and failing them, look up speedball. check that the emulsion that you order is suitable for the kind of light that you can use.
when applying the photoemulsion, work quickly as it is light sensitive. apply an even layer over the back of the screen using a squeegee, also available from the art shop. imediately place the screen somwhere very dark to dry.
when dry you need to expose the image. you will need to follow the instructions for whatever type of light and emulsion you are using. these will be on the pack, or on one of the links i added. it basically is the bit about putting the image on the screen and shining light on it that i mentioned.
after you wash off all the emulsion you leave the screen to dry. when dry, check for pinhole gaps in the blocked out areas and cover them with tape or something. your now ready to print.
get a big flat even surface that you can put pressure on. cover in newspaper so as not to wreck the gaf. do a test print to see where you need to place your t-shirt or paper for the image to be in the right place.
place your material on the flat surface, place the screen on top of it, the way up that has the flat side against the material and the staples facing up.
put a line of ink along the top of the screen as evenly as possible. take the squeegee and place it above the ink line, hold it tilted towards you and put pressure on it. drag the ink down evenly over your image. you may need to do this a couple of times. only use the squeegee in one direction. lift the screen carefully off the material, and you should have your test print. adjust to your likengs and carry on. i find it helpful to mark out lines of where the corners of the screen should go to center the image onto the material. hang the wet prints to dry. as soon as you have finished printing that batch, wash the ink off the screen in the shower and leave to dry.
when your ink is dry the final step is setting the ink so it cant be washed out at all. this is done by heat. place a pillow case over the inky image and iron for a wee minute.
thats it!! theres the finished product!!
hope this helps
karen
the image you want to replicate should for simplicitys sake be very bold and blocky. i would try one colour for now. you need to take it to a photocopy shop and print it on to acetate. print out two identical sheets. the reason you need two is that when you shine the light onto the sensitised screen, you want your image to block out all light. sticking two together means you have a darker more opaque image.
if you know someone in ncad its increadibly easy to go in with them one evening and get them to help you burn a screen(put the image onto the screen).otherwise its complicated enough because most people here use big uv machines kinda like sunbeds for burning the image onto the screen(its a photographic type process-the screen is covered with a light sensitive emulsion, and when dried in the dark, the image is placed on the screen and exposed to light. the areas that light cant get through will not become exposed, so your image wont be exposed. you then quickly wash off the emulsion leaving gaps where your image was and blocked out areas around it.) the fact that everyone uses the heavey duty uv machines means that they phased out photo emulsions that work with strong lightbulbs and homemade set-ups. they just wernt selling anymore. if you cant get someone to smuggle you in to one of the big machines you will most likely have to order a specific type of photo emulsion suitable for the type of light that homemade lightboxes emit. these are usually available from american art supply stores as there is alot more screen printing still going on there. two sites to try are www.victoryfactory.com and www.standardscreen.com and failing them, look up speedball. check that the emulsion that you order is suitable for the kind of light that you can use.
when applying the photoemulsion, work quickly as it is light sensitive. apply an even layer over the back of the screen using a squeegee, also available from the art shop. imediately place the screen somwhere very dark to dry.
when dry you need to expose the image. you will need to follow the instructions for whatever type of light and emulsion you are using. these will be on the pack, or on one of the links i added. it basically is the bit about putting the image on the screen and shining light on it that i mentioned.
after you wash off all the emulsion you leave the screen to dry. when dry, check for pinhole gaps in the blocked out areas and cover them with tape or something. your now ready to print.
get a big flat even surface that you can put pressure on. cover in newspaper so as not to wreck the gaf. do a test print to see where you need to place your t-shirt or paper for the image to be in the right place.
place your material on the flat surface, place the screen on top of it, the way up that has the flat side against the material and the staples facing up.
put a line of ink along the top of the screen as evenly as possible. take the squeegee and place it above the ink line, hold it tilted towards you and put pressure on it. drag the ink down evenly over your image. you may need to do this a couple of times. only use the squeegee in one direction. lift the screen carefully off the material, and you should have your test print. adjust to your likengs and carry on. i find it helpful to mark out lines of where the corners of the screen should go to center the image onto the material. hang the wet prints to dry. as soon as you have finished printing that batch, wash the ink off the screen in the shower and leave to dry.
when your ink is dry the final step is setting the ink so it cant be washed out at all. this is done by heat. place a pillow case over the inky image and iron for a wee minute.
thats it!! theres the finished product!!
hope this helps
karen
