Materials
- Screens: Sun Studio can order screens through Opus and I have 2 – 3 screens to borrow. You are welcome to bring or make your own screen too.
- Ink: We will provide black, white fabric and paper ink, and coloured dyes and transparent ink that you can mix for fabric or paper.
- Squeegees: Sun Studio can also order squeegees. I also have enough squeegees for everyone to use.
- Image/design to print (see below for details)
- Something to print on: paper, fabric, cards, t-shirts (see below for details)
Suggested Supplies to Bring
Here are some supplies you could bring, don’t worry if you don’t have these things, as long as a couple of people bring some of these, it should be enough.
- Hair dryer or fan: If you have a hair dryer or fan lying around please bring it. This will speed up the drying of the screens.
- Plastic containers: Bring some yogurt containers to mix ink.
- Plastic knives or old spatulas: Useful for mixing and spreading ink.
- Iron: If you have room for clothing iron, please bring it if you are printing on fabric. The ink needs to be set with heat.
Images
- No matter what colour your final print is going to be your original image needs to be strong contrast black and white – no colour or grey areas.
- The parts that are black in your original image, will be where the ink colour is in your final screenprint.
- Your image can be hand drawn, a photocopy of a photograph, a design or pattern taken from the internet.
- Size: We will be printing the images on transparencies that are 8.5 by 11 inches so your image should be smaller than that.
- Patterns or larger images: If you are printing a pattern or larger image, you might be able to tape two pieces of transparencies together.
- More than one image: If you want and you think you will have time, you can print more than one image. Either you can fit both your images on to one piece of paper or you can print two larger images (Most of the screens are 16 by 9 but we will have a few screens that are slightly larger)
Preparing the Image
I will be printing the transparencies on my inkjet printer before the workshop on Day 2 so I will need an electronic copy of your image by Saturday evening. You can either email it to me or give me the original or a photocopy and I can scan it.
Surfaces for Printing
Paper
- Paper is great to print on but it doesn’t hide mistakes
- To get the best results, use heavyweight paper (80 lb. weight or cardstock.) The heavier the paper the most likely it is to stay in place.
- You can print on cards, cardstock, bristol board, cotton paper etc.
Fabric
- Regular plain coloured cotton fabric works best but you could try other types of fabric and textures
- You can print on T-shirts, scarves, hoodies, tote bags, skirts etc.
- The more textured or rougher the fabric the less detail will show up
Wood and other materials
- You can try printing on smooth plywood or wood panels
- You could try clay, metal, textured fabric…
Workshop
Day 1
On Day 1 I will be introducing you to silkscreening, show you various examples, and introduce you to the process and show you different ways to prepare images. You will also be getting your screen and images ready for printing the next day.
- Introduction to screenprinting and what you can do with it
- About screens
- Preparing screens
- Setting up the exposure unit
- Burning the screen
- Rinsing out the screen
- Introduction to printing: ink, squeegee, workstation
- Introduce different ways to prepare images
- Preparing the image for print
Day 2
On Day 2 you will burn your images on to your screen and print your designs.
- Burn screens
- Clean and prepare screens for printing
- Mix ink, prepare workstation
- Print project
- Introduction to printing options: colour ranges, different colours/same screen, colour separations
- Clean up