Producing Series
Design for Print
2014
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Printing
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Silk-screen Printing
Screen Printin Screen prints can be created in many different ways, traditionally either an emulsion or block would be painted directly on the screen and left to harden - Leaving only the negative space for the ink to pass through. The integration of hand-cut patterns and other layers to form stencils further allows highly detailed multiples to be produced. Many leading practitioners still favour the hand-cut method; however, the most commonly used and versatile method in practice today uses photo emulsion and computer generated artwork.
Materials & Tools Certain essential equipment is needed to screen print:
- Screen
- Squeegee - Coating trough - Photo emulsion
- Mixing sticks / palette knives - Inks and Binder * You will be charged for binder in the print resource - Stencil strip.
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- Masking tape
Silk-screen Printing
- Water-resistant tape
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Cleaning the screen First, the screen must be stripped of all previous coatings from other students. To do this B-strip and B-solve has to be applied and washed off.
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Silk-screen Printing
* For this process you have to wear the PPE equipment required by LCA.
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Coating the Screen First, the screen must be coated with light sensitive photo emulsion using a coating trough. Starting at the bottom and working upwards the screen is coated in one firm, continuous movement to achieve a smooth, thin coat of emulsion.
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Silk-screen Printing
The process is repeated on the reverse side, and any drips or excess emulsion is removed with a piece of card or a plastic spreader. As the emulsion is light sensitive, the screen is left to dry in the dark room.
3 Preparing artwork and ‘Positives’ Before an image can be exposed onto the screen, a design must be produced and a ‘positive’ must be created. A positive is an opaque image (usually black), on a transparent or translucent surface.
Silk-screen Printing
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Screen Printin
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Transparent film, OHP film or acetate can be used, as can tracing paper. Each separation must be printed out as a solid, opaque layer.
4 Exposing, Washing out and Spotting in.
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Once your screen has been exposed it must be washed out or ‘blasted out’ in the washout area. A power hose is used to spray both sides of the screen with cold water, moving the jet of water over the entire image. Where the Opaque parts of the positive were exposed, the image starts to fall out. This process is continued until the emulsion has been washed out of the entire image area.
Silk-screen Printing
Both LCA print resources have an industrial exposure units with a vacuum that sucks the screen down flat during exposure. They are then exposed to UV light.
4 When the screen is dry, it is checked for any holes or open areas that may have occurred during the exposure process.
Silk-screen Printing
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Screen Printin
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The screen is laid on a light box and screen filler is used to block these areas for so no ink will pass through them during printing. Finally all four inner edges of the screen are masked off with waterproof tape to make sure no ink bleeds though the frame, and the screen is ready to print.
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Printing
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Printing is done so on vacuum beds, designed to suck air through tiny holes during printing to ensure the paper is held down flat. The screen is fastened into the frame of the vacuum bed and the screws are tightened on all four corners to ensure the screen does not move during printing.
Silk-screen Printing
The base ingredient which is used at LCA is acrylic paint, which must be mixed with screen print medium or binder before printing. The binder acts as a retarder and ensures the acrylic does not ‘dry in’ on the screen and block your image. You must mix a small amount of ink with your binder in a small tub.
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Newsprint or unwanted old prints with a flat surface are used to check that the image is printing with clarity. The test paper is placed in position and the screen is lowered into printing position. A generous amount of ink is then scooped out at the end of the screen nearest to the printer.
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If multiple colours are being printed, guides are pivotal for accurate registration. The guides are taped in place and the frame is lowered in to the printing position.
Silk-screen Printing
If you want, you can mark at each edge to indicate where the paper should be placed and rectangular pieces of cardboard are cut for registration guides. These ensure that the image is printed in the exact same position with every sheet of paper used.
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Printing The screen is lifted slightly so it is not in contact with the bed or the paper, and the ink is then ‘flooded’ evenly and smoothly away from the printer with the squeegee.
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The Screen is then lifted up and the ink is again flooded back to ensure the screen does not dry in. When the test print has been checked, the first print can be pulled onto the final stock.
Silk-screen Printing
With the screen lowered into printing position, both hands are used to pull the ink forward in one firm movement, keeping the squeegee at a 45-degree angle.
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The print is then removed and placed in the drying rack, and then the process is repeated until the run is complete. If multiple colours are being printed, the next colour must be correctly registered. To do this is a piece of clear plastic film or acetate is taped down and laid flat over the paper.
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Silk-screen Printing
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The second colour is then printed directly onto the plastic. This allows the paper with the first colour to be positioned so that it lines up correctly with the new layer. When the you are confident in the registration, the guides are replaced and the print run is started again.
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Cleaning Down All water-soluble ink can be cleaned with water. To remove the emulsion from the screen, a solution called stencil strip must be applied to the entire scree, front and back.
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Silk-screen Printing
A brush or sponge is often used to work the stencil strip into the emulsion and cover all areas. This is left for a few minutes to break the emulsion down. A high-pressured hose or power hose is then used to blast out all the emulsion until the screen is completely clear.
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Linocut Printing
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Lino_ Printin
Linocut Printing is a type of relief printing which uses a material called linoleum. The linoleum is inked and mounted on to a piece of wood. The wood is then pressed against a substrate, and must be re-inked for every impression. A wave of a new group of artists such as Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, saw linocut elevated to an established set form during the 1950s. Today though, linocuts are once again an extremely popular form of printmaking
Materials & Tools Certain essential equipment is needed to lino print
- Linoleum for linocut. - Knife
- Cutting Gouges in various shapes - Sandpaper
- Staining inks - Marking Pens - Printing inks * You may need to buy. -Solvents for cleaning
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- Burnishing tools for hand printing
Linocut Printing
- Spatula
1
Making the Matrix A matrix is essentially the block, or plate that carries the information for the print. There are many methods or creating an image on your block.
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Linocut Printing
These include direct drawing (where the image is drawn straight on to the block ready for carving or cutting) and transfer methods (where an image is designed off the block then transferred to the block for carving or cutting.)
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Preparing your block for the image. Most surfaces will require some preparation before any method is used. Often this preparation aids the cutting process. In woodcut, the surface can be stained a colour such as red to help determine the areas that still need to be cut away once the image has been transferred to the block.
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Linocut Printing
For the same reason, artists working with Indian ink and linoleum often apply a thin layer of white gesso to the surface.
3 Transfer Methods The majority of transfer methods work on a single premise: the image that is transferred to the block needs to be ‘mirror image’ of the original artwork.
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Linocut Printing
This is particularly important to remember when any typography is involved.
3 Carbon Transfer is a method that allows for more detail to be transferred to the block, as an almost exact replica of a very detailed design can be transferred to the block.
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It is therefore a good idea to make a mirror photocopies to trace from. Again, the image can be strengthened for ease of cutting by going over it with a marker or Indian ink.
Linocut Printing
A sheet of carbon transfer paper is placed between the original drawing and the block, and then the original is traced, transferring a layer of carbon to the block. In this instance the resulting transfer will not be a mirror image of your original.
4 Cutting the Block When it comes to cutting a block there are many tools to choose from. The choice is determined both by the material the block is made from and the aesthetic of the mark making you are trying to create.
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Linocut Printing
It is important to remember that if you use a knife or gouge simply as a drawing tool, a white line on a black background will be produced.
It is vital that the tools used for cutting are kept well sharpened. Injuries can often occur when dull blades resist the material of the block, leading the carver to use more force than should be necessary.
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Linocut Printing
Blades are extremely sharp even when dull and could cause severe damage to your fingers and hands
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Choosing the right inks Relief printing provides the best results when relatively stiff ink is used. Inks with a medium to high ‘tack’ will allow the image to print sharply. Specially formulated oilbased inks are available for relief printing. Some lithographic ink is also suitable.
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These are now a viable option for relief printing as slower drying times have seen water-based inks produce similar results to oil-based inks.
Linocut Printing
In recent years a high demand for inks that can be cleaned without the use of harmful solvents has seen dramatic improvement in the production of water-based inks.
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Rolling up inking the plate. Inking is carried out using rubber roller known as a ‘brayer’. The ink is spread out in a line on a smooth piece of metal or glass using a spatula. It is then worked across the surface with the brayer until the ink covers a large area.
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The block itself is then inked using the brayer Inking is repeated until the same velvety texture from the glass appears on the block.
Linocut Printing
The ink should have a smooth and velvety consistency. If it has a texture resembling an orange peel, it is too thick and requires further rolling.
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Printing Printing can be carried out by many methods. Hand printing with burnishing tools is the simplest option. However, this is a slow and physical process, so printing presses are more commonly used.
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Linocut Printing
Etching presses, vertical-pressure ‘Platen’ presses and cylinder presses can all produce effective results. Each method has its own registration systems, but they all share the same printing process
8 First, the block is placed face-up on the printing bed. It is often inked in place. Paper is then placed in position on top of the block by hand. Packing or blankets are placed over the paper to add pressure and to protect the press from the block and the paper from the press. Next, the bed is rolled under the press and pressure is applied. Finally, the finished print is carefully removed and taken to the dying area.
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Linocut Printing
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