Over the 3 days, you’ll cover: The fundamentals of the screen printing process. Familiarity of the print studio, equipment and tools. Group project development. Stencil and image-making. Coating screens using light-sensitive emulsion. Screen exposure process. Screen preparation. Ink mixing. A variety of screen printing processes and techniques.
Screen printing is a time consuming, messy process that I both love and hate. The results are undeniably charming and effective, but it just takes so much effort. The temptation to just make these images in photoshop and, in a sense, get the exact same result in half the time is overwhelming. But when compared side by side, the physical screen print is just better in an inexplicable way. Whether it’s the minute imperfections, or the effect of physical ink layering in an organic way, the screen print is just gorgeous.
Part 1 Working within your A4 process document, you are asked to draw 12 x 8cm squares (4 on each A4 page). Using only a series of black circles or squares positioned within the larger white square, you are asked to explore the following attributes of visual form (see example left): structure (formal, balance, symmetrical) chaotic (informal, visual noise, irregular grouping) movement (active, rythm, direction, asymmetrical) – upward, right, left
Part 2 Repeat the same series of exercises above, this time adding two further elements to your system: tone / shade (tint, gradation, transparency) texture (lines & dots) – here you can add some of your halftone patterns created in Photoshop.
The process started through using the halftone function on photoshop to make simple patterns that would work well on a screen. I made multiple layers (shown below) that I thought would look effective when layered on top of each other, only to later learn that only one layer would be transfered onto a screen anyway.
Once they had been printed, we were taught the basics of screen printing. I was unfortunately quite ill at the time so didn’t get much physical work done, but I did return throughout the week to finish up.
My main focus was on colour choice, as I wanted to make simple yet effective designs without cluttering the space. I feel that I achieved that well in the print above. The designer David Wolske inspired me in this aspect, as a huge part of his letterpress work is how colours overlap when wet.
Looking at these works in comparison, next time I make a screenprint I’d like to play around with pinks more. (David Wolske’s Bad at Maths no.3, Letterpress).
The next experiment was foiling, which was a tentative success.
I had luckily used a screen that was compatible with the foiling glue, so the process was quick. It was mildly successful, but the uneven heat of the domestic iron meant for a patchy coverage. In future, I’m hoping to invest in a laminator for a more even coverage.
Overall I enjoy screen printing, but it is just such a process, so I think rather than using it as an experimental tool in future, I’ll thoroughly plan before resorting to it for a final piece.
Prosaic Vocabulary 