Screen Printing for my tour de France project.

Until the 1930's Artists didn't think about the potential of screen printing. as until then it had only been used for stenciling patterns onto fabrics and even shoes. Screen printing isn't as old as other printing techniques such as lino and etching. although it has been said that it was introduced to Europe in the 18th century mostly being used in France. Back then it was rather different to screen print then it is nowadays. as back then they would stretch materials like Organdy over wooden frames to hold in place while printing or stenciling.where as nowadays. As the 20th century rolled in, only then did screen printing become more widely used for making, packaging, posters and shirt, as it was a quicker much easier process especially now with the use of machinery helped to speed up the process of making the screens.  

I will be making some screen print samples and hopefully using one of them as my final piece. I will be looking at the Famous screen printing artist Andy Warhol. Using his colorful and bright prints as inspiration.

MY SCREEN PRINTING PROCESSES 

This is my first time trying screen printing. At first I was unsure about this whole thing, but as I got into it I found it rather fun and relaxing. This process is much simpler than I thought. There are some slight HEALTH AND SAFETY rules to  follow when printing.

• Remember to use latex gloves and an apron when printing, as the ink can stain skin and cloths.
• Don't mess around while using ink's for diy. as it wont be very healthy if you inhale any of it.
• when grabbing bottles of ink/ die remeber to grab the bottle by the middle not by the lid. because if the lid wasn't on properly as it could fall and spill making the floor slippery or ruin work.

First i drew out a design onto a piece of normal printer paper, before using the photo copier to print into tracing paper as this is a quicker, easier and more accurate. once I had finished that I then gave it to the textiles teacher along with the rest of the class and it was then put it onto a screen.


This photograph shows my first design that I drew on normal printer paper. I did have a little less time than most people in my class as I missed the first day we began. because of this i didn't wast any time and dove straight in. I quickly looked over my development sheets and thought about what looks good and what would go together as an interesting pattern. I still think I could have put more on to fill the negative space. The places that are black is were the ink will show when printing. (keep in mind if your lines are too fin they wont show on your print.)





This second photo shows my design after I had used the photo copier to transfer it onto tracing paper. I then handed the tracing paper to my textiles tutor and she then put it onto a screen.




(As I forgot to take a photo on my screen I found a pic on Google images of what a printing screen looks like before anything has been out onto it)






After my design was put onto a screen, I then chose the materials I wanted to try out my print on. I decided to try a few number of fabrics. such as, Cotton velvet, Muslin (cream), Habotai silk, Heavy vase linen, Calico (medium) and White cotton.  as i wanted to see if there was any different in the print on the different materials.



After that stuff was over with, it then came down to the fun and messy stuff. In other words making the ink for my prints. I really enjoyed this part as it was something new to me and I was able to get stuck in. This photo shows the binding mixture which is the base of the inks. although it looks white the mixture is actually clear this just helps to thicken the ink making them brighter and easier to print with.



After filling a plastic cup with the appropriate amount of binder that I need, I then grabbed a small wooden stick (almost like a tong depressor.) I then grabbed a bottle of ink dipping the tip of the wooden stick into the ink as you don't need a lot as the colour takes so well to the binder.  (each colour has its own code on the bottle so you know which colour to use against if you want to use that same print again.)



Once I had made my colours and made a note of the inks i used i then lines my fabric up under the screen before putting ink onto the screen and then dragging it across with my squeegee before dragging it up again to make sure enough (but not too much( ink was pushed threw my screen to create my print.








After I placed my print to dry, I ended up with this. I used multiple inks. This is just one of my many prints i did, Here are a few more pics of my prints...




This print was done in one colour, as it was one of my first prints. I decided to use turcoyse as it was a nice colour and i wanted to see how it would look with my pattern.




 this print sample was actually chosen to be remade as a final piece for my project. This is the reason I wrote down the colour and its code so that I knew which inks to use again when it came to it.





I was quit surprised when the ink stayed in a straight line and in columns. However i was quit hoping for a more mixed look with the colours.



For this one i made a back ground before printing with it. i made the background using Prosium die and a paint brush. Before printing over the top once it had dried. I am quit happy with the out come as i think it works really well and looks interesting.


I thought i would show this as it shows that sometimes when your not careful when printing in case your screen slips while your dragging your squeegee across.Also i don't think the material i used was very good as it looks like it bled as well slightly.




This whole experience was new and interesting to me. I didn't relies how fun and simple screen printing is. I defiantly will consider this style of art in later projects.

Here are my two final pieces chosen by my class mates for my project.

 I did this first final Print on Calico (Medium) and used black BM and purple made from turquoise MXG and red MX2R

 This second final print was printed on Cotton Velvet with the previous Purple (MXG + MX2R) Turquoise MXG, yellow 2E, Orange made from Yellow 2E and Red BB and Pink 5BTL I really struggled to get the same effect as my sample print as the colours weren't the exact shade ad before and didn't print the same.

 This has been my screen printing blog hope you enjoyed it. :)