Silk Screen
What Is Silk Screen
Silk screen is also known as screen printing, silk-screening, and serigraphy. It is a process wherein a mesh material, like silk or nylon, is pulled taught over a frame to create a screen. A design is imprinted onto the screen and by blocking out parts of the image a stencil is created on the screen. The screen is set over an object and printing ink is poured near the top edge of the screen. Using a squeegee the ink is spread evenly across the screen, pushing it through the unblocked sections of the mesh and onto the object. The screen is removed revealing the single color image imprinted on the object. The process can be repeated using different screen stencils to add more color and detail to the print.
The Technique
The most basic method of creating the silk screen stencil is the paper cutout method in which a design is transferred to a piece of paper and the areas of the design that are to yield color are cut out. For instance, if you want to print the word LOVE on a t-shirt you take a piece of paper, print LOVE on it, cut out the LOVE with a stencil knife and lay it beneath the screen.
Another simple method is to use a screen filler product to block out portions of the screen by hand. You can transfer your design directly onto the screen by hand with a pencil. Use the screen filler to fill in areas of the silk screen that won't yield color. Once you have completed the ink transfer you can wash off the screen and use it again.
The most advanced silk screen method is photographic emulsion. With this technique you can print complex art and fine line drawings. First the mesh material screen is prepared with a special photosensitive emulsion. You can use a high-contrast computer-generated graphic printed on a transparency film to create the stencil image. The transparency is placed on the silk screen and exposed for a set period of time—just like a photograph. The screen is then washed with water and areas of the design that were dark are washed away.
Related Links: |
|
