New silkscreen napkins

Today I thought I would share with you a peek into a couple napkin designs I've done recently. Even though I had made plans to simplify my studio and have less stuff, my new studio is starting to get crammed with silkscreens. What can I say? I love creating and that seems to create more studio "stuff".

Created with my own illustrations, I'm making sets of four napkins printed with either a dahlia print or a teapot and cup design. I'm loving the pink dahlia on white which although you can't tell from the photo, is a shimmery colour. Perfect for tea don't you think?

My attempt at Kitchen Lithography

There's a new printmaking video that's been going around that's gotten all sorts of printmakers excited. In this video French artist Emilion shows how he's been able to create traditional lithographs with items found around the house.  Calling it "Kitchen Lithography" Emilion uses aluminum foil, vegetable oil, castile soap, and coke to create an impressive edition. The whole process is based on chemistry. I've done something similar using xerox photocopies called paper lithography  but I had to give this a try.

The materials

I copied a couple of images in my sketch book. The one on the left was drawn with a litho crayon and I tried the soap on the right.

Next I poured on the cola. The acid in the coke reacts with the soap and litho crayon and etches the foil.

After wiping off the cola, oil is buffed down onto the plate.

Here are my plates rolled up three times with etching ink. I wiped the plates with a clean wet rag between each roll. You can see than I almost completely lost the other mushroom I did with the soap. Finger prints will easily etch too.

The printed result. I put the plate through my press but the video shows that it is possible to print solely by rubbing with the back of a spoon.

Close-up. You can see the wrinkles of the aluminum foil and I couldn't seem to "clean" my white spaces fully.

I hope you enjoyed this photo essay of this process and if you give it a try yourself, I would love to see your results. As for me, I think this technique has great potential if I'm willing to work out the kinks. Maybe a heavier foil would print cleaner? 

I do love the fact that it's another printmaking process that I can do at home for very little money. I had to laugh when a viewer commented that they were feeling ill to have spent twenty-thousand on their art tuition. Me too.  It's all  been in our cupboards! 

Silkscreening at home update

For today's post I thought I'd show you some more silkscreen projects I have been working on. As you know, I have been stretching my own screens with old frames and chiffon fabric and using Mod Podge as a screen filler. The drawbacks to this method is that I'm not able to get a super fine mesh and once the Mod Podge is dry it can't be removed from the screen and I have to stretch a new screen for every new image. I have quite a few more silkscreen ideas so I thought I would spend a little money and buy myself the Speedball Silkscreen kit. I figured the mesh would be tighter and I would also get a screen filler that I can remove.

Well.....I haven't been impressed. I'm going to show you a bunch of photos of a current project where I'm trying to use the drawing fluid which is used a resist with the screen filler. The instructions say that the filler may dissolve the drawing fluid if you brush over the same spot more than once. A single swipe with a squeegee is the recommended application. I've been finding the filler so watery and inconsistent that I wish I had just carefully brushed it all on without spending time with the drawing fluid resist. I'm going to need two coats at least. When I used the Mod Podge I only need one coat with some minor touch ups. I will finish applying the filler because I hope to save the frame but so far the Speedball products don't seem worth the extra time.

Drawing fluid in blue and red screen filler. This is the second time applying both because the filler dissolved all the drawing fluid.

Here you can see how thin the filler is. There are holes everywhere.

My screen made with chiffon and Modge Podge. The negative spaces were easily filled.

I've used this screen over and over. I haven't had any of the Mod Podge come off over time.

Below are a couple pictures of a t-shirt design I did with the chiffon fabric and the Mod Podge. In the close-up you can see how the weave of the fabric obscures any pixelation created by the mesh. I'll be printing up a couple t-shirts with this design just in time for Halloween. It's creepy cute, don't ya think?

Silkscreen Printmaking for the home-based printmaker

While going to art school, I majored in printmaking.While there I learnt all about lithography, intaglio and silkscreen techniques. I enjoyed silkscreen very much but once I graduated I didn't see how I could still pursue the technique in my home studio. The processes that I learned were very dependent on chemical emulsions,cleaners and large photgraphic equipment. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to expose my screen with the sun alone, at least not in this northern climate. I gave up silkscreening and sold my squeegees and my 20"x30" sturdy screen.

Once I started on Etsy I learned about Gocco in the forums and was so excited to hear that I might be able to rekindle my interest in silkscreening. Alas, Gocco has been discontinued and what is still out on the market is highly sought after and very expensive. Why hadn't I heard about this option in school? The Gocco system has been around since the late seventies after all. Nope, not a word. In fact, there were virtually no words of advice from the instructors as how to continue our printmaking pursuits after graduating. Yup, still bitter.

One day while reading my Facebook home feed, I came across a post by fellow printmaker Coralette Damme about her attempts at embroidery hoop silkscreening using Modge Podge as a resist. Having found the tutorial on  Craftgrrl , Coralette has really perfected this technique that uses readily available materials.

I tried numerous times to create a screen as well but I just couldn't seem to get what I wanted. The process nagged me and I asked for some online help from printmakers Coralette and Adam Devenish. The two of them looked at photos of my results and helped me try and find solutions to the constant ink bleeding problem I was having. After a final YouTube search on the process for the home I decided to use sheer curtain fabric stapled to an old Ikea frame. Once tight, I painted the Modge Podge on as a resist. Finally! My problems had been caused by and embroidery hoop that wouldn't keep the fabric taught enough. Phew! I can silkscreen again.

I was able to use the embroidery hoop again but I kept it to only 4 inches in diameter. My recommendation for the home printer is to find yourself a sturdy, empty wooden frame and a sheer curtain found at a local thrift store. Use Modge Podge to paint your stencil on and you'll have created a very usable silkscreen for under $5. Happy printing again.

I would love to hear how this process goes for you if you try it.