What follows is a breakdown of the silk screen process:
Materials Needed
- Acetate and permanent markers
- Screen
- Photo emulsion, emulsion sensitizer, and trough
- Dark cupboard
- Either a photo box (box with black uv lights and timer) or photo flood light and stopwatch and piece of glass
- Sink
- Spatula, fabric or screen print inks, and transparent base extender
- Squeegee, registration board with hinge clamps, masking tape, and bumpers
- Acetate sheet and bumpers
- Spray bottle with water, and paper towel
- Emulsion remover
1. Create an image, of what you wish to print, using permanent marker on acetate. The marker will be where the ink comes through, so think about how you want the image to come out. The marker must be opaque, so you may have to coat both sides of the acetate with the marker. (You can use 2 photo transparency prints on acetate instead, but there must be 2, taped together, for good opacity and image screening later on)
You may make as many separate images as would be layers for your screen.
2. When your image is ready to be put on your screen, gather your screen, trough, photo emulsion, and sensitizer. You will mix the sensitizer with water first, and then the photo emulsion to activate the photo emulsion - go by the directions on your materials.
3. Fill the trough, the silver triangle container pictured above, with the photo emulsion, at least a 1/4 inch thick. The reason for using so much photo emulsion is to get a good even covering on the screen. Now, holding the screen up, lean the trough down and slowly coat the screen in one go (on the flat side) , lifting the trough back up to catch the rest of the material. Empty the left over emulsion back into its container for re-use - no wasting :) Put your screen in a dark cupboard to dry flat for at least an hour. Go away, make some tea, mix some colors.
4. If you have access to a light box filled with black uv lights, and with a timer attached, lucky you. Set the timer to 4 minutes (the longer hooked switch), place the screen in the box with your acetate images over top (the reverse direction of how you want them to print and on the flat side of the screen). Now place the glass on top of the screen and images, close the box, and set the timer to ON.
If you do not have access to this sort of box, set up the flood light close above your screen covered with the acetate images and glass, in a dark room. Leave the light on for 15 minutes.
When your time is up, take out your screen. Your screen should be blue instead of the moss green now, shown above. Where the image is burned, should be a light green. Wash that light green out in a large sink with water and a soft sponge. Where the ink should come through should now be clear.
5. Now you will want to gather your printing materials which include your registration board complete with acetate sheet for registration and clamp hinges for holding your screen in place, while you print. You should also gather your inks, transparent base extender, and spatula for mixing colors. You will also need masking tape, bumpers (small folded paper squares or cardboard bits to attach to your screen on the side it is not clamped down to the registration board; to level your screen), and your squeegee. Don't forget the screen!
6. To screen, you will clamp your screen down to the registration board on one side, and add your bumpers to the other side. You will mask around your image with masking tape to cover those areas of your screen where you do not want the ink to go through. Using a spatula, you will add your ink above the image you will screen. Holding your screen up, you will pull the squeegee down over the image flooding your screen (for an even print). You will then put your screen back down, and pull the squeegee over the screen again.
There should be a print of your image on the acetate, which will be used to register your image on whatever you are printing on. Lift your screen up again, and then use the squeegee to again flood the screen. Use the image on the acetate to register the image on the material you will print on. You can use a small amount of spray adhesive under the acetate to hold the acetate and the materials you will print on (paper, fabric, etc.) in place. Now that your material in the right place for printing, put the screen back down and run the squeegee over the image on screen again. Voila, a print!
7. You can run about 5 to 6 image copies before your screen will need to be washed out with water. Wait for your screen to dry fully before you start printing again. And remember to register again using the acetate :) Repeat the above process with subsequent layers you wish to screen.
Below is the image I created to for my silk screen. It is created and printed in four layers, and with four colors.
Trouble Shooting
A - Running ink
- Make sure your screen is fully dry before you begin printing.
- Make sure you have masked out all areas that you do not want ink to go through, especially around the edges of a screen.
- Sometimes you might need to clean out your screen and begin again with re applying photo emulsion if ink is coming out of many areas you do not want
- If emulsion is left to dry on the screen for too long before exposure, the image may not wash out. In this case the screen will need to be washed out, and you may have to start from scratch. If it does not come out, the fabric on the screen may have to be replaced.
C - The ink is not coming through
- Remember to flood the screen in between prints to keep the image wet, and not allow for bits of ink to dry in the image.
- Sometimes you might need to clean out your screen and begin again with re applying photo emulsion, especially if very little ink is coming through
D - The perfect image
- Practice Warhol style, until you get what you want
- Revel in imperfection
