Hello Friends!
This months print is a little different; its a screen print instead of a relief print! I've documented how to do a small screen print on the cheap, and with a lot of stuff you might already have at home.
Here's what you will need:
-A small cheap picture frame, preferably made of wood.
-Some screen printing mesh (I've used stocking nylons for small screens in the past)
-Some screen printing ink
-Screen drawing fluid (buy here)
-Screen Filler (buy here)
-Some scissors
-A palette knife or spoon
-An old credit card or small squeegee
-Masking tape or painters tape
-A staple gun or small nails
-A drawing!
STEP 1:
Stretch a screen. If you already have a pre-stretched screen, you’re done! If not, using a staple gun or nails, stretch the screen printing mesh over your frame, making it as taut as possible.
STEP 2:
Take your drawing and lay it under your stretched screen. Using a fine point permanent marker, outline your drawing onto the screen. I've done myself no favors by doing a more complicated drawing.
STEP 3:
Shake your bottle of drawing fluid well. Prop your screen up off your work surface. You can see in my pictures I have two pencils under the top and bottom edges elevating my screen off my desk. Using a brush, paint in the area you want to print. Where you paint is where the ink will pass through when we're done. As you work, hold your drawing up to a light occasionally to see if there are thin spots in the drawing fluid. You want the filled areas to be crisp and fully covered. Let the drawing fluid dry for a few hours.
STEP 5:
Shake up your Screen Filler fluid. Prop your screen up off your work surface. Using a palette knife or spoon, dribble a small amount into the top of your screen. Using an old credit card or small squeegee, pull the fluid over your image in even passes, covering the inside of the screen. Don't worry about being perfect, the fluid does not need to go all the way to the edges. Try and keep your passes to a minimum; going over too many times will make it harder to wash the drawing fluid out. Let your covered screen dry completely.
STEP 6:
Wash out your screen in warm water. Gently use your fingers to rub the drawing fluid out of the screen. When done, you can hold your screen up to the light and see through the drawing. Don't worry about a few pin-holes showing light (like mine does in the upper left) that won't come through in final printing. If you have larger spots that didn't get filled that you don't want printed, you can go back in with a brush and fill those holes. Otherwise you can cover them in tape in the next step.
STEP 7:
On the front side of your screen will be edges that the screen filler didn't fill. Using some masking tape or painters tape (duct tape works too if you don't want to reuse your screen) mask off the areas that aren't covered by filler. If you have other imperfections, you can cover them in tape.
STEP 8:
Create registration marks for your screen. On your work surface, place your paper of fabric and mark the edges with a pencil or tape. Determine where your screen will sit over your paper and mark the edges of the screen on your table. You can see in my pictures I've marked the edges of the paper in green pencil, and the edges of the screen with white tape. Ideally you'd have a screen printing hinge for this, but eyeballing it and trying a few times works fine with a little practice.
STEP 9:
Using your palette knife or spoon, dollop some ink along the top edge of the screen. You can be generous with how much you use. Gently pass the ink over your image (don't press down hard yet) this 'fills' the screen with the ink. Now, While holding your screen in place (or using a screen hinge) use your old credit card or squeegee and drag the ink over the image using a small-to-medium amount of pressure. I made 2-3 passes to ensure the ink printed evenly.
STEP 10:
Gently lift your screen away from your paper or fabric. Print as many pictures as you'd like, and take pride in your new screen print!
When you are done printing, your screen can be cleaned with warm water. Let your screen dry completely before printing again.
Have questions? Comment bellow and I will answer as best I can! Enjoy!
