Screenprinting Personal Refresher

I thought it'd be good to refresh my memory with screen printing, since its such a strong method of print and I like the outcome it creates, I thought it was important to show this 

This post is more focused on the production for my own reference.

I took notes as I was going through this process. 

Preparing design:

For the design I just used an old floral print I'd previously made for a linocut project. To be sure the design shows through the paper well enough, this will give you an idea of how well it will print.


Preparing the screen:

With any previous design on the screen I was able to remove it by wiping the screen down with b-strip soaked on a sponge for five to ten minutes or so, front to back fairly thoroughly and then rinsed and power rinsed.

 After this I then wiped the b-solve onto the front and back for ten minutes a lot more thoroughly than last time, then rinse and power rinse. 

When done with that I gave the screen a wash and rinse with water and soapy water to degrease the screen.  

I then left the screen to dry for 30 minutes 

After that I then started to prepare my screen for my design onto my screen

Exposing screen

I then put a think layer of emulsion evenly onto the screen in an upwards motion. 

I then left it for 30 minutes to dry

I could then expose my design to the screen. I put my printed out design under the newly applied emulsion screen and then put the 'wire' over the screen, shutting the lid and applying the appropriate time, on this occasion I entered 170 into the exposure unit. 

When the time was done I took the screen and began to power rinse it until I saw the design coming through the screen. 

After all the screen preparation the screen is then ready to be used to print with. 

Outcome: 

The design didn't come out as well as I had hoped but this personal refresher has given mea bit more confidence to screen print more frequently and use this process more for my practice.

Conclusion

I found this process really useful to make myself more custom to. I've struggled with finding confidence within trying new things such as using the facilities. In doing this actively trying to improve as I progress within the course with more practical skills to inform my outcomes more effectively.