Screen Print Workshop with Erica Donovan

Today I attended a workshop which I had signed up for, to learn some advanced screen printing skills with Laura and Erica. I originally set out to use artwork of my character for my Locating Practice project in this workshop, but the image was not suitable for the process, so I decided to do my own artwork to test out the process.

I began by drawing out a black and white artwork, and then drawing a blocked area using a light box, for the background colour. I then photocopied both of my drawings to produce two completely black copies. 

We then covered the copies in oil, drying off any excess, to produce a transparent copy. when laid together, the two drawings show the area that the coloured ink will cover.

We prepared plates, and then created our images in the plates by using the black areas to block out areas to allow ink to pass through. The prints are always created using positives in the screen printing process, and the images are transferred the right way up.

Once transferred and washed down, the plates were left to dry. This gave me some time to decide on which colours to use for my prints. I decided on blue, green and black.

I secured my plate to the bench, and taped down the corners with brown tape to ensure no ink ran over the yellow parts on the side. I began by printing the colour first.

I then lined up my paper with the colour work, and then marked out in 3 places where the paper was on the bench.

The colours I used were blue and green, and I printed the two together at the same time so that they blended together as I made my prints. I actually really like how the print looks without the black linework, the colours alone with the white detail looks really good on it's own!

The final layer to add was the black detail. I lined up my blue and green prints with the screen and made new marks on the bench in order to ensure that the two layers lined up perfectly. My lining up seemed to be pretty accurate as the majority of my prints came out with the linework in the correct position. I created many copies of this print, with one being lineart only, a few colour only, one without green, one on a faded colour print and one on blue paper.

I am very happy with my print! I think it is a rewarding outcome for a hard days work and I feel that it looks very impressive.

My cleaned plate once that black ink had been transferred.

As a result of my work in the workshop today, I have come up with an idea that uses the process in order to create an additional piece for my final outcome! I have decided to make a small 'fossil guide' zine which is aimed at children, which will be an A5 booklet made from an A3 print. The colours will be that of my main character (yellow, pink, green, black) and the print will be layered, including pictures and information. This is only an idea for now but I hope that I do get around to creating it!