screen printing

Screen Printing can be done in your home studio with a few tools and a bit of planning.

You may even have some items that make screen printing at home easier. Here are 10 tools for screen printing:

1. Masking tape and clear packing tape is great for blocking of areas of the screen. It saves on clean up time.
2. Wax Paper – is good for paper stencils and testing out design ideas.
3. Old t-shirts torn into small rags are essential for taking care of inky fingers and tools.
4. Small plastic containers are great for resting your ink coated squeeze on
5. An old book is great for printing on the pages. This allows you to print with abandon and not be worried about precious and expensive print paper.
6. Plastic page protector is helpful for creating simple registration systems.
7. Wooden sticks are good for scooping ink and medium out of the jar.
8. Bondo scrapers and old credit cards can work as squeezes for small screens.
9. Round embroidery hoops function as stretcher frames for quick impressions.
10. And small round plastic containers are great for saving small amounts of ink.

Get support from an online class. Check out the current offerings on the printmaking workshop page.

Most folks are familiar with screen printing. We all have screen printed t-shirts and bags and things.

The basic idea is to attach a design to a finely woven screen and then pull ink through the design.

If you have the right inks and screens you can print on paper, fabric, ceramics, glass, wood and more.

The design is a stencil and can be made from paper, contact paper, screen filler, acrylic paint or light sensitive emulsion.

Screen is usually stretched on a frame, but it can be framed with duct tape, as with EZscreens or stretched on an embroidery hoop. Get a free tutorial on making paper stencils and embroidery hoop screens below.

We will:

• stretch screens
• print on paper or fabric
• use paper stencils
• explore drawing fluid and screen filler type stencils and
• make emulsion based screen with pre-coated screens like the EZScreen.

Get support from an online class. Check out the current offerings on the printmaking workshop page.

Rainy days are great for taking silhouette like photos that can be used to create stencils for screen printing.

Today I stopped an took a few photos of this tree. I tried to capture mostly tree and sky so that there was a high contrast of black and white with out much distraction.

Then I edited it in photo shape to create a strong black and white image. I reduce it in size on the copy machine and printed a transparency.

Then I burned this emulsion based screen. The screen material is made by EZscreenprint. I was pleasantly surprised. The tree was quite delicate and complex. I was not sure how much of the detail would be lost in the creation of the screen. But it worked!

I tested out the tree and printed it on a cotton tote bag, a t-shirt, and some painted papers.

These papers can be trimmed and made into cards or small mixed media prints, or added to some artist’s books.

If you would like to explore screen printing, then join us in this session of Pulling Screen Prints, the online printmaking class. Read the details on the printmaking workshop page and register today. Class starts soon.

I get lots of questions about screen printing at home and the benefits of using the process. So I wanted to share the answers here with you.

1 – What is screen printing?

It is a printing process that uses a “stencil” to control the passage of ink through a screen to create a repeatable image. Stencils can be made with paper, drawing fluid, emulsion and even wax. The stencil blocks out all the areas of the screen except for where you want the ink to print.

2 – Do you need special machines to screen print?

Easy answer is no. I do use my computer, scanner and printer to manipulate my images. I bet you already have a computer and printer.

3 – Do you need a special studio space?

Not really. I have screen printed in my apartment. It is easier if you can claim some space for printing and drying your prints. The bigger you print the more space you will need. But to get started you can use the tables and floor space that you already have.

4 – What tools do you need?

That will depend on what you want to print on and the kind of design that you want to create. But at a minimum you can get started screen printing with just:

• An embroidery hoop
• Tightly woven curtain sheer
• Paper, scissors and tape
• ink (acrylic paint might work in a pinch)
• old credit card
• Check out my free tutorial below using just these materials.

5 – What kind of ink do you need?

It is always best to get the ink that is designed for the surface that you are printing on, so acrylic screen ink for fabric or paper. The ink should be smooth and not runny. If the ink is too fluid too much will go through the screen and you may have a blobby mess. In a pinch with a “disposable” screen and working quickly you could use acrylic paint, but it is not ideal. There is a screen print medium that is available to mix with Golden acrylics

6 – Is the screen print process toxic?

It is only as toxic as the inks that you choose to use. So if you use acrylic inks the process is pretty clean.

7 – What can you print on?

In a home studio the easier things to print on are paper, fabric, wood and cardboard. It is possible to print on ceramics and glass if you are familiar with those techniques.

8 – Do you need to know how to draw to screen print?

I would say not necessary. You can create wonderful geometric images and patterns, you can manipulate photos, use can use text and even copyright free clip art. So don’t let the thought that you can’t draw stop you from trying screen printing.

9 – Does screen printing take a lot of time?

That will depend on your project and goals. Screen printing does require some planning, ink management, and clean up, so it is not as spontaneous as monotype printing. I would break that project into 3 steps, image design and stencil creation, printing and clean up. So a small run of a simple design, in one color, on paper could be done in an afternoon.

10 – What are the benefits of screen printing? And why would you choose the process over another?

I choose to screen print when I want to print a lot of the same image, whether it be yardage of fabric or multiples of cards. I would use screen printing to print very detailed images, like high contrast photographic designs that I could not obtain any other way without a press. Screen printing is also great for printing text.

If you would like to explore screen printing, then join us in the online printmaking class, Pulling Screen Prints. Next class starts Monday, Sept. 9th 2019. Read the details on the printmaking workshop page.

It is very possible to print t-shirts in a home style studio. You just need a little space planning.

You might want to print a bunch of shirts for a party or fundraiser or to share your message. You can use very simple cut paper method, as I did in the gecko and squares printed shirts above.

If you have a delicate drawing or intricate design then it is easy to use pre-coated emulsion screens, like those found at Ezcreenprint.

If you are ready to explore screen printing t-shirts and much more, then join us in the upcoming online screen printing class, Pulling Screen Prints.  This is a 4 week class that creatively explores several different methods of screen printing on paper or fabric.

Read the details on the printmaking workshop page. Please email me if you have questions.