DEMO
I
have been fascinated by screen
printing for years. I think it’s because
I love the textural quality of old
retro graphics and I’m also drawn
to bold colours and strong lines.
There are various ways to make
screenprints. The simplest method
is to cut out a stencil from newsprint
and place it over the paper you want
to print on. The screen is placed on
top, the ink is pulled through the
screen with a squeegee, and the
newsprint will cling to the underside
of the screen, enabling you to repeatthe process with more paper and
create a small “edition” (a run of more
than one print). The newspaper
stencil will act as a blocker to the ink.
However, the newsprint will eventually
degrade, and you will have to wash
down the screen before moving on to
the next colour (if your print has more
than one colour). Ideally your screen
will be fixed to a flat surface with
hinges, so that it stays in place, but
can still be lifted up and down.
The most common method is to
use a photosensitive coating, which is
what I will show you here. The coating
becomes impermeable when dry and
enables you to create pretty much
anything in print. The screen is
coated, and then a black stencil is
placed on a lightbox, with the coated
screen resting on top. The screen is
then exposed to UV light for a few
minutes. Wherever the stencil has
had contact with the photosensitive
coating, it will not have been
“hardened” by the light exposure andwill wash away, leaving you with the
image you want to print. Some
printmakers prefer to paint directly on
to the screen with a screen blocker,
a more direct process.
Screenprints can be made on a
variety of papers. A heavy paper, such
as 270gsm, will take several layers of
ink more easily, but generally screen
printing is very versatile, and you can
pretty much print on anything.
Cartridge paper for instance, is fine.
Other useful tools are brown tape
(used to block out the edges of the
screen) and a sheet of transparent
film (used for “registering” and
making a test print). The film should
be stuck down to your printing
surface along one edge, creating a
sort of hinge, so the paper can be slid
underneath to give you an idea of
where the ink is going to come through
the screen. Once the paper is in the
right position, the registering film can
be turned over out of the way soyou
can print directly onto the paper.Eliza’s materials
•A wooden screen
•270gsm paper
•Printmaking inks
•Squeegee
•Transparent film
•Brown tape
•Masking tape
•A bucket of water
•Spatula1
DESIGN YOUR IMAGE
Start by making a rough sketch
and then deciding what colours you
would like to use. I filled these in
quickly, just to see what might go
where and give a guide for how my
finished screenprint might look.It is best to keep colours to a
minimum. Simple designs are usually
more effective and easier to carry
out. This will be a three-colour print,
with the areas of the paper left white
acting as a fourth colour.2
MAKE THE STENCILS
To make a stencil, paint black
acrylic paint on semi-transparent film.
Each stencil corresponds to one of
the colours with black paint where the
coloured ink will come through the
screen. It is essential to start with the
lightest colour first, so I am paintingall the areas that are going to
be a light sandy colour. Bear
in mind that you need a bit of
overlap – without this you can
end up with white gaps between
colours and it is trickier to register
the print correctly.
The bolder and blacker the
stencils, the better, as here we are
going to use the photosensitive
coating method, and we want aslittle
light as possible to get through the
black areas. If you have a lightbox,
it is useful as you can place your
stencils on top of one another and
make sure they are looking ok as
a layered group.Top tip
I make my own inks
by mixing printmaking
medium and acrylic
paint together in a
1:1 ratio^