Screen Printing at Home (January Learing Center)

Screen Printing at Home

A great way to create multiples of an image is by screenprinting. In this post we’ll create a screen of a vintage “Utrecht Linens” logo that can be screened onto t-shirts, aprons or canvas bags. The easiest way to get started is with a screen printing kit, it will have everything you need to create your image either through the photo emulsion process or by drawing the  image directly on the screen. 

In order to achieve a vintage weathered look we’ve chosen to draw our image directly onto the screen with a brush and drawing fluid. We used push pins to elevate the screen while painting it (remember the screen is mesh, you don’t want the fluid seeping through to your image, they’ll get stuck together!).

Now that the image is painted on it’s time to add the screen filler. The area that is painted is the area where ink will be able to get through to transfer your image.

Cover the image in one pass, then use the excess filler to cover the areas of the screen that do not have the image. Make sure there are no puddles of screen filler and return the extra to the jar. Now you want to let this dry before washing out the drawing fluid.

Here is the screen before and after rinsing. We used a traditional sink sprayer, a hose will work too. Anything that can provide enough water pressure to wash out the drawing fluid. Allow the screen to dry then tape up the edges to prevent any ink getting through gaps that may exist.

We put another image on this screen for another project, since we don’t want it to print we’ll cover it with masking tape on the bottom of the screen (taping on the top, or printing side, of the screen will give you problems when applying ink). Now we’re all set to print and can spoon on some of the ink.

Lift one edge of the screen so it’s not making contact with your printing surface. Make a pass forward with the squeegee and one back to flood your image with ink. Now lay the screen flat on your printing surface.

Applying firm pressure make another pass with your squeegee. This forces the ink through the screen and results in the image transferring to your surface. Now you’re ready to make an entire edition of shirts or fine art prints!

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 7th, 2009 at 6:35 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.