Serigraphy

Follow the directions below to prepare for class (you may also review these instructional videos when you need a refresher or to study for exams):

Serigraphy Overview:

Serigraphy Assignment 01

Follow these instructions to complete the first assignment. Take your time watching these videos, don't try to do them all at once (you will come to hate the sound of my voice if you try it). Watch a couple of tutorials and then do the things you have learned. Take notes. Fast forward when it bogs down...

Making A Transparency: 
You may chose one of the following techniques to create your single color serigraph. Check the Assignment Sheet to confirm that you are using the correct method.  Make sure you add registration marks to the transparency. 

IMPORTANT NOTE!!! For our intro class please disregard the instruction in this videos below and set up your first digital file at 8 X 10 inches - keeping it smaller will help you have more success (and allow you to print on regular 8.5 X 11 paper). You can still use the tutorials but set everything up at a different size. You will also be printing on paper, adding marks with a sharpie, and then vegetable oiling the paper for exposure... So while the videos below are useful, you will need to use some common sense in figuring out where what you are doing is a bit different. 

BitMapping A Photographic Image

Drawing On Top Of A Digital Transparency

Hand Made Stencil With Drawing Fluid

Hand Drawn Transparency

Scoop Coating

If you are coating a hand drawn screen you must make sure you scoop coat it in one fell swoop (you can't do multiple passes over a hand drawn screen). If you are doing a photo stencil you can make as many passes as needed. 

Exposing Photo Emulsion

Washing Out The Screen After Exposure
Be careful blowing out your screen - be gentle and take your time. It's the worst when you blow out too much of the image and have to re-start the whole thing. 

Pin Hole Repair

Serigraphy Color Mixing

Remember to do a "draw down" to test your ink color. Inks print much more thinly that you would expect in serigraphy - this is the best way to test them to see how they might actually print...

Serigraphy Registration

Serigrapy Printing = One Color

Stage 01 Step 07: Screen Clean Up

Scrape as much ink as possible off the screen and put the ink back into the container. 

Gently wash the ink off the screen, and print again later, or proceed to screen reclamation. 

Stage 01 Step 08: Serigraph Screen Reclamation

Serigraphy Assignment 02 - Second Color

Follow these instructions to complete the second assignment. You will need to create a second transparency for this assignment. You are welcome to create these images digitally or by hand, but make sure you pay attention to registration and how the layers relate to each other.

Serigraphy Multi-Color Printing And Registration

How to add marks to the second transparency and keep everything lined up.  

Use this video to figure out how to line up your second screen with good registration on our SPU presses. 

Printing the second color. 

Adding A Third Color (Fourth, Fifth, Etc)
Follow these instructions to complete the third assignment. You will need to create a third transparency for this assignment. You are welcome to create these images digitally or by hand, but make sure you pay attention to registration and how the layers relate to each other.

How to add marks to the third transparency and keep everything lined up.
<Video not yet added>

Printing the third layer. 

Serigraphy Assignment 03 - Illustrator
Follow this tutorial to create the three transparencies in Illustrator - refer to the tutorials for Serigraphy Assignments 1-3 if you need help with registration and/or printing. 

http://2421printmaking.blogspot.com/p/three-color-screen-print.html

Miscellaneous Techniques for Creating Transparencies

Illustrator And Serigraphy

Here are some instructions for using Illustrator to create color separations:

Here are some tips for "trapping" in Illustrator:

Laser printer output in Illustrator:

 

Photoshop and Serigraphy
Instructions for Creating Duo-Tone Images (+bitmapping):

Instructions for 4 Color Separations in Photoshop:


The recommended screen angles for four color printing are:
Yellow = 0
Magenta = 75
Cyan = 15
K = 45
Here is a link for more detailed info:
http://the-print-guide.blogspot.com/2009/05/halftone-screen-angles.html

Laser printer output in Photoshop:

Advanced Techniques
Follow these instructions once you have gotten the hang of creating and printing Serigraphs.  There are a million ways you can combine these techniques - printmaking is all about practice and repetition, don't be afraid to experiment... 

Serigraphy Monotype
<Video not yet added>

Troubleshooting/Tips/Info
Check this section if you are having trouble with something and need advice or just want more information about the various techniques and how they look when used.

Gwish (printing error)

• "Gwishing" takes many forms... it can seep out of a flat shape or run out of a thin line... but it's telltale sign is the thickness of the ink deposit compared to other areas of the print, and the fact that it is seeping outside the boundary of the stencil. 
• Gwishing almost always happens because the angle of the squeegee is not correct and/or you are not using enough pressure when you print. Push down hard and keep the angle of the squeegee at 45 - 90 degrees. 
• To fix it you should clear your screen by printing it multiple times on newsprint without flooding it - you may also want to spritz the screen with water and clean it with a rag - then print it many times on newsprint till the image is clear again. 

Filled In Screen (printing error)

• A filled in screen is not depositing ink where it should be. The stencil is open but there is usually so much backed up in in that part of the stencil that the ink will not release. It usually looks "starved" for ink, or spotty. In our example above the dark grey area in the bottom left should be a flat black, but the screen is filled in so it is printing poorly and you can see the mesh of the screen. 
• Filling in almost always happens because the screen has dried out or the ink is backed up due to a lock of printing pressure. Push down hard and keep the angle of the squeegee at 45 - 90 degrees. 
• To fix it you should clear your screen by spritzing the screen with water and cleaning it with a rag - then you should start with a new flood stroke each time you print (you may also want to print on newsprint till the image is clear again). 

Orange Peeling (printing error)

• "Orange Peeling" is a printing error that results in a texture that is thick and rough (like the skin of an orange or a basketball) when it should be smooth and flat. This error is caused by too much ink going through the stencil and depositing on the paper, then the the screen fabric "sticks" to the paper instead of releasing cleanly. 
• Orange peeling in almost always happens due to a lack of "snap distance." Add more space between the screen fabric and the paper and use the vacuum table to keep the paper from sticking. Always use a lot of pressure when printing and watch the angle of the squeegee. 
• To fix it you should be able to just add more snap distance and continue printing.