Saturday, March 23, 2013

saturday screen printing

This morning I woke up in the wee hours and decided to finally just dive in and try out some screen printing. I received a Speedball Fabric Screen Printing Kit from my brother-and-sister-in-law for Christmas, but had been too chicken to use it. Since I still don't have a means to expose a screen with photo emulsion, I used drawing fluid and screen filler instead.

The first step is to draw the design on the mesh with a paintbrush and the blue drawing fluid.

screenprinting with drawing fluid

screenprinting with drawing fluid

It took awhile.

screenprinting with drawing fluid

After that dries, you spread a layer of the red screen filler over the top with a squeegee.

screenprinting with drawing fluid

This is where things went wrong.

The screen filler started to pool up on one side and dripped through the screen, dissolving the drawing fluid. Some of the circles started to bleed as well.

screenprinting with drawing fluid

decided to wash out the screen anyway.

screenprinting with drawing fluid

screenprinting with drawing fluid


And do a test print.

first print

I really love how it turned out! I'm going to go back and paint screen filler around the bad dots, and see if that helps. I'm disappointed that some areas can't be fixed (lines where the screen filler bled in and filled the mesh), but I'm trying to remember that this is a learning experience.

Unfortunately, this means I need to go back to the drawing board for the Handprinted Fabric Swap. I think I'm going to go pick up a light and some transparencies and give the photo emulsion a try! Now that I've tackled my first screen, I'm not that scared.

What I learned-- 

I need to have more patience with drying time. I tried to rush the drawing fluid by hitting it with a blast from the hair dryer. I think that actually reversed the drying process and made it tacky.

I need to leave a bit more space around my design on the screen. There really was very little area for the drawing fluid to go at the beginning before I spread it out, and I think that's why it pooled.

15 comments:

Amy's Crafty Shenanigans said...

Wow it looks FAB!! That green ink is my fav green and your design is awesome!!! I wish I was in the same group!!

Barbie Mills said...

This is so fun! I love your design.

Kate said...

I love it, a great design and that is the most perfect green.

Dan R said...

that design is fab! maybe I need one of these.

ipatchandquilt said...

Fabulous! Love to see more!
Esther
ipatchandquilt

Selfsewn said...

herringbone is my fav design!
I've needed to do this for like forever, thanks for the info!

Julierose said...

Wow! this is intriguing!! Very pretty blue/red one Julierose

Karen Lewis Textiles said...

without wanting to sound condescending i think you did an amazing first job! I love your design and I think you'll rectify it pretty easily x

Franziska said...

looks wonderful to me.

CitricSugar said...

Very cool - even if it didn't turn out exactly as you planned. And thanks for sharing what you've learned. This is a project that I'd like to try sometime and your insight is valuable!

pippinsequim said...

I love your design! I joined in the Handprinted swap as well. It definitely took more trial and error than I had originally accounted for, but in the end I was so glad that I participated.

mle said...

Wow, that is very cool! No one would ever know there were imperfections. Great design, that's for sure!

instantpublisher said...

Very cool post. I just recently started following your blog, but I look forward to contributing more in the future.
Book publishers

Unknown said...

Nice blog. Thank you for sharinG :) Best screen printing in Calgary, Alberta

Unknown said...

I am new here and I am glad to learn from you guys.. Waiting for more to come! Thanks.. ����