The Pitch. Screen Printing

I want to talk about screen printing because I think it may be important to me later in life.

I cannot talk from experience as I have never used the technique but I wish to at some point in the near future. Screen printing plays an important part in Many artists and illustrators lives. It’s a good way of making a highly detailed print incorporating lots of colour. The prints can be transferred onto lots of surfaces including fabric for t shirts. Recently I visited to the Outsider’s gallery in Newcastle, where I found out about the artist Sage Vaughn. I think his screen prints show how much detail you can achieve. 

 Link to his web page

http://www.sagevaughn.com/ 

Below are some examples of Sage Vaughn screen prints

How to screen print in brief

The printing technique is achieved by using a layering of images. First you must have a drawing of something you wish to screen print.  The drawing must then be transferred onto a sheet of acetate. This can be done by hand or by printing an image on to it using a printer. because you can use a printer this means you can also screen print photographs. If the image is going to have different colours on it then you must create several different layers using acetate, one for each colour. The next step is to get the screen prepared, to do this first coat both sides in photographic emulsion. Make sure it is spread evenly. The screen then needs to be exposed to a bright light along with the acetate drawings. The screen will harden when exposed to light but the parts which are behind the drawing will stay the same. After a good wash the screen will be ready for use. To print just scrape the ink over the screen and the unhardened parts will allow the ink through, again this can be layered. 

Cost

Acetate. 10p/20p depending on size

Printing ink. £3 at the cheapest

Cartridge paper. £1 at the most

Ink and photographic emulsion kit. £23. 62

I don’t know how much a screen is but they can be made using a picture farme and silk.

There will be a cost if you wish to hire a printing studio. This varies from place to place but is often quite reasonable. 

Conclusion 

I think it’s a good way to make limited prints and t shirts but is very time intensive and leaves a lot of room for mistakes. I still wish to use it but others are still a bit worried. I think the quality of print makes it worth the trouble. You also need the specialist lights and wash stations, we have this in our university but other people might find this hard to come by.