Wednesday, March 21

Screenprinting Experimentation

Recently I have been working on two really interesting, fun briefs; one about culture and another D&AD project about the benefits of rain. As the designs for both of these projects have progressed, I have been thinking more and more about screen printing; an old fashioned, manual technique that leaves a beautiful raw finish to prints. It would be the perfect style for both designs and something I have always wanted to experiment with, so, as research I went and had a go today.

I didn't know a lot about the process until today, only that paint is pulled through a fine material mesh to leave areas of paint which becomes the print. The actual method of preparing the screens take at least a day as you have to separate the colours in your print work, let the material be exposed to light and chemicals to create the blocked out sections, and then the paint has to be made up to your specific colours with more chemicals. It takes ages! But, it is so worth if for the great effect you are left with and the depth that can be achieved through layering colours. In this example above the screens have been set with an image of a tweed coat to practise with which looked great when the colours started to create a thick weave effect.

After Easter I am going to make up screens with my own design on and hopefully get some printed, if successful they will go towards my final degree show in June. It was great to have the chance to work with some of these old techniques like screen printing and letterpress because I think it adds a quality you just can't get with digital printing.