Water-Based Ink Printing Basics -- tools, terms, and techniques!

On the board for Friday's print demo...

APRON

NEWSPRINT

SUBSTRATE

CRAFT STICK

WATER-BASED INK

"INK-FREE ZONE"

PLATEN

PRINTING STATIONS/PRESS/HINGE

"OFF-CONTACT DISTANCE"

ARTWORK POSITIVE

REGISTRATION

REGISTRATION MARKS

SPRAY ADHESIVE

"HAIRSPRAY CLOUD"

SQUEEGEE/SQUEEGEE BLADE

"PULL A PRINT"

TEST PRINT

BACK-FLOOD

SUBSTRATE PRINT

CONVEYOR DRYER

NEWSPRINT

WATER MIX

INK CARD

NO SPIDERWEBBING!

These are basic screen printing terms. tools, practices, and skills you will need to know! They may be unfamiliar now, but they'll become part of your screen printing vernacular (vocabulary) quite quickly. (And if they remain unfamiliar to you... it's going to be difficult the whole year!)

If you missed today's demo, or feel like you didn't fully grasp it... no worries! The first time you print, you'll have someone helping you! Not to mention a very comprehensive instruction sheet to help you along the way... and, of course, ME! Then you'll help someone else to print, and that will help you to learn as well!

in the near future, there will be a simple quiz on burning, printing, and cleaning basics. You will have your burning demo worksheet (and the blog!) as a reminder for the burning terms and processes, and if

HOW TO PREP YOUR BURNED SCREEN, plus more Exposing/Developing etc TIPS (*Screen Burning PART THREE)

tools for fixing "pinholes", to prep a burned screen for printing

Over the last week, we have had multiple half-period demos on:

1. TIPS for exposing and developing, plus instructions on  how to get your artwork photocopied onto vellum

2. proper LAYOUT of positives when exposing including how to do it for this first screen burning, when you have to place three positives

3. HOW TO PREP A BURNED SCREEN for printing-- Fixing pinholes, taping-off, and masking-off

4.  different kinds of "POSITIVES"and what THREE you need, to be ready to burn!
 And how, when you are ready to burn, to come get the:

SCREEN BURNING CHECKLIST/INSTRUCTIONS

from me, to follow while burning! (with a partner!)


TIPS and HIGHLIGHTS:

VELLUM POSITIVES

-your artwork must be BLACK. However it looks in black, on white paper, is exactly how it will print! The artwork creates the vellum positive... which creates the stencil... which creates the print.

-TO MAKE A VELLUM POSITIVE OUT OF YOUR ARTWORK... put your originals/artwork into the "TO BE COPIED" folder in order to get in photocopied by me, onto vellum. Your name and period # should be on the front (unless there's no space). You will get it back in your period's "VELLUM COPIES" folder. Remove both the vellum and original artwork from the folder, you might need the original again to make another vellum copy.


GETTING SCREENS FILLED

-your screen must be DRY when it's put

CREATIVE FONT DESIGN

The design for the first T-SHIRT PROJECT is going to be based heavily on typography, which we will learn much about in the upcoming month! As an intro to this, you were given a worksheet of an assignment wherein you will develop your own cool/creative font. The worksheet is self-explanatory and the assignment should take AT LEAST a class period (and is worth 15 pts). If you lost the worksheet, you can print it out here (PRINT OUT AT HOME OR AT THE LIBRARY, NOT IN CLASS):

Creative Font Design worksheet: Front Page

Creative Font Design Worksheet-- Back Page

There are student examples posted in the classroom-- not for copying, but to show you successful effort, craftsmanship, etc. A SUCCESSFUL FONT WILL NOT RELY ON THE THICKNESS OF THE PEN/PENCIL... just because a pencil lead line is automatically a certain width when you write with it, doesn't mean your font should be that same width! BOLD up the lines, have VARYING width, etc...

SCREEN BURNING DEMO: PART TWO

Highlights from today's learning:

SINKROOM AND DARKROOM MINI-TOUR

You learned about the light switches etc that you'll use, and took a brief walk-through, so you could see where the magic happens, what the safelights look like, and see for yourself that the darkroom isn't covered with blood, it's drips of emulsion from when I fill the screens in there. Not blood. Not a murder scene.


STENCIL PLACEMENT

Your screen has 12x15 inches of usable space for stencils. All stencils must be (placed) at least TWO INCHES from the inside of the frame, or you won't be able to print successfully with them.

Some projects will dictate particular placement (organizing/layout) of where the stencils are within that usable space. IN GENERAL, though, when exposing, you want to place your positive so that it burns a stencil in the center of your screen. It should also be right-facing-- as in, not backwards. Face-up on the glass. As far as crooked or upside-down... no such thing when you're printing onto paper or sticker. Backwards, yes. That can be a problem. Unless it's required for a certain print technique. This is confusing I realize. It will all make sense with the printing demos!

BTW there is a little flashlight on the exposure table, which you can use to help you see the screen when you're in the darkroom.


EXPOSING

Make sure the door to the darkroom is closed while exposing a screen. HOWEVER, if someone comes inside and light comes in while they do, that's okay-- it's brief enough that it won't affect screens!

BUT MAKE SURE TO LEAVE CABINET DOORS CLOSED... the safelight is dim, yes, but unexposed emulsion will eventually be exposed by safelights as well, if the light shines on it long enough.


DEVELOPING 

Make sure the MAIN LIGHT is off in the sink room before you bring your screen out to develop it!

Developing "stops" the exposure-- if you don't develop the emulsion with water, it will continue to expose if... exposed, to any light. When you develop, you wash out the unexposed areas of emulsion, to create a stencil.

Rubylith blocks the light the best, so those stencils will develop (wash out) the fastest.

my tips:

Get the screen wet on both sides, and then LET IT SOAK for a bit!! It will make the developing/washing out the stencils sooooo much easier.

If you're using the hose and there is a line of students waiting to develop, stop spraying for a second and LET THEM GET THEIR SCREENS WET! If their screens are soaking while waiting, it will make everyone's turn with the water go faster.

Use the FLAT NOZZLE on the coiled hose, for the easiest developing experience. It works the best. TRUST ME.

If the burning process is too loud/hurts your ears, come get earplugs from me!


BLASTING OUT THE RESIDUE

I also gave you instruction today on how to USE the AIR COMPRESSOR... how to turn it on, etc.. (there are labels on the air compressor to remind you of the steps!)

notes/tips/etc:

If it's not already outside, roll it carefully outside using the back door

Usually, YOU will not use the back door to access the air compressor; only if it's raining!

You have to let it fill with some air pressure before you start to 'spray'

It's easier to hold up your screen while spraying, so that you can see the droplets of moisture

You only have to clear out the stencil (of moisture/residue), BUT, if you are in a hurry to dry your screen (at any time-- to dry a stencil/photo-emulsion, or dry a fully "reclaimed" screen), you can use the air compressor. DON'T USE PAPER TOWELS TO DRY A SCREEN!!

Yes.. the air/nozzle leaks a little. That's why you have to let it build up a bit of pressure before you start spraying :)

DO NOT LEAVE THE AIR COMPRESSOR RUNNING UNLESS YOU ARE USING IT! Don't walk away from it unless you have turned it OFF!

SCREEN BURNING DEMO: PART ONE

Today we learned the first steps of how to BURN A SCREEN!!

Which, as you've learned, has nothing to do with fire. Please don't set your screen on fire.

You received a "Photo-Emulsion Screen Burning Demo Worksheet" today to help you retain information and to use as a study help for any quizzes that we might have. Here is a link to a pdf of that handout if you lose yours.

We went over most of the information/questions on the worksheet today, and you had time to work on it-- you can finish up after Tuesday's "Part Two" demo. The worksheet will be scored (so you can earn points for participating today and tomorrow), and you will have a chance to check your answers for correctness. Don't worry about turning it in, yet-- specific info on how it's going to be graded/turned in is coming soon!

Anyway. Back to this:

BURNING A SCREEN has THREE STEPS:

1. EXPOSE to LIGHT
2. DEVELOP with WATER
3. BLAST OUT RESIDUE

What was covered in today's demo:

RUBYLITH!

Coming up-!!  you'll (finally) learn how to "burn" screens! AKA use the photo-emulsion process to create a screen with stencils on it, for screen printing!

but first you must understand--

*All screen stencils start with a design (what you intend to screen print) -- this is the ARTWORK.

*That artwork then has to be put into an OPAQUE format-- a "POSITIVE"-- to block the light when the screen is exposed during the burning process. We call these "image positives" or "artwork positives"

*One of these opaque formats is a FILM POSITIVE, where the artwork is cut from RUBYLITH FILM. The rubylith film has a red color that blocks light rays fully when the emulsion is exposed.

Today, you learned more about

*RUBYLITH

*RUBYLITH FILM POSITIVES

the steps for
*CREATING YOUR "STREET ART STICKER" RUBYLITH POSITIVE

You also practiced cutting/working with rubylith, as preparation for doing THIS with your "Design #1"-- recreating it in Film Positive format!

the rubylith should be an exact replica of your original black artwork-- however it looks in black, is what is
recreated when the design is cut from film, so take care with the initial design/artwork!
Some of you will adjust your Design #1 at this point, before continuing on with rubylith-- so remember that:

If something is supposed to be solid, DRAW it solid; if outlined, outlined, etc. Like the heart pepperoni examples above.

RUBYLITH SPECIFICS, TIPS, AND INSTRUCTIONS!

*Rubylith is cut with an Xacto knife, but not cut into a stencil-- Rather, it is a rubylith version (reproduction), a POSITIVE IMAGE of the artwork. What was black on white background, is now red on a transparent background. You cut around the black shapes, then peel the rubylith from around those shapes. The plastic backing holds all the pieces of rubylith together, so there's no "lakes and rivers" issue like with a hand-cut paper stencil.

*Rubylith is also easier to cut than paper, so you can create pretty fine details and lines 

if you are patient and careful!

*Cutting the film is very easy, as it's very very thin. It's similar to the thinness of a Listerine Thin Mint Strip, but don't put this in your mouth. It does not taste like cinnamon, and you might die. Maybe.

*When you cut rubylith, you're just cutting the thin layer of film on top of the plastic backing, so the sharpness of the Xacto blade should be sufficient to cut-- you don't need to apply pressure (if you cut through the plastic backing, that's too much pressure!)

*One of the trickiest parts of rubylith is determining what to PEEL. The natural instinct is to

"Printing" the freezer-paper stencil

Today you learned how to print a freezer-paper stencil, using water-based ink and sponge brushes. Here is a summary of that demo:

After you have cut along all the traced lines of your original artwork, on the freezer paper, 

you should have a subtractive stencil (pieces removed to create open areas for ink to go through). Show me this completed stencil to receive a piece of fabric to print on.

The freezer paper has a plastic-coated side which will temporarily adhere to the fabric, so that it doesn't move or shift while inking (and keeps the ink from bleeding under the edges of the stencil)

Place your stencil plastic (shiny)-side down on the fabric, and gently iron to heat the plastic so that it melts and sticks

Clip your fabric with ironed stencil to a piece of cardboard. This gives you a stiff surface to print on (you can hold it in your hands), and the cardboard will retain any ink that seeps through the fabric (protecting desks/surfaces and your clothes)

Select one or more colors to print with. You can mix colors too if you'd like, just ask me for a little plastic tray

Use a sponge brush to dab the ink into the stencil. Dip the brush directly

creating a freezer-paper stencil

Yesterday, before learning how to use Xactos, we talked about Paper Stencils and how they work... and before THAT, I showed you a grand overview and photos of all the steps of the Freezer Paper Stencil (mini)-Project, from start to finish. I talked a bit about the design process for it (will explain more on Tuesday), but today the posters with the design steps were put up, so you could start if you were ready. Meh, you guys are smart.

Here are pictures of those posters, for your reference if you're not in class, and also if you just like to look at pictures. And you can never have too many places to find instructions amiright?

 (individual jpegs of the posters are at the end of this post, if you would like to see them in closer detail)

*NOTE* DISREGARD STEP 7.

 It's wrong. Which is kind of funny, considering that step says "trust me on this".. haha:) 

So, about your design for this little project... Your stencildesign can be realistic or abstract, original or copied, hand-drawn or traced or found online or created in a computer program... or a combination of any or all of the above. It can be simple or detailed, but not TOO simple; it's not (and shouldn't be) the greatest design of your life! -but still put good effort and craftsmanship into it. And also-- you know what-- you can even just find a stencil design online to use. In fact, I recommend and ENCOURAGE that, even. Google search the subject you want + "stencil", and also possibly the words "clip art" and "black and white". Hint, hint.

This is just a mini-project, just an exercise to introduce you to stenciling (and to give you a skill that you can use to "screen print" shirts when you are no longer in this class, and don't have the major machinery or tools). It's worth 40 points, which means it should not take you longer than four class periods (and likely will take you less, from start to finish)

Here is an example of student work with very careful, detailed cutting:

Your design does NOT need to be this detailed (and it may not hold up very well with the ink, anyway)... but, it can be done:).
On Tuesday I'll review all this and then there will be the short demo on how to "print" the freezer-paper stencil. And then, you're off! And can make your own!  Yay! HAVE A GREAT LONG WEEKEND, and be safe!

p.s. sorry for tricking you with the maze yesterday. Also not sorry. I did say, "there might be a prize for the winner..." haha 

(click on the images to enlarge)

X-Acto knives: how to use, not abuse!

For part of class yesterday, I demonstrated how to use X-Acto knives. X-Actos are great tools for cutting if used properly, but difficult (and can be dangerous) if used improperly.

Some key points from this instruction:

1. The knife has a cap to protect the blade (and you from the blade), and a plastic tube for storage in the knife rack. ALL KNIVES MUST BE RETURNED, WITH ALL PIECES, at the end of each class (class is not dismissed until everything is returned/found). The cap and tube components are for your safety, and the knives are NOT allowed to leave the classroom. At that point, it becomes a potential weapon and a danger.

(and, of course, knives are ONLY used for cutting paper and other printing or drawing substrates, in-class...)

2. Always use