Quilt Camp Week 8 - Deconstructed Screen Printing

Have you ever tried a technique called Deconstructed Screen Printing?  It can also be called Breakdown Printing.   It has been a long time since we have done any but this week, we went back to try it again.

It takes a standard screen in a wooden frame.  These can be bought at the big box craft stores or online at art supply sources.  After taping the wood part of the frame, so it doesn't get wet and swell, you are ready to start your process.

We mixed dye with a product called print paste which is purchased from a dye house or art supply store.  Print paste is mixed with water to create a thick medium which is used to hold your dye in a viscose suspension instead of a watery one.  This can also be called thickened dye.  First you mix the print paste and then save out about a cup to add dye to.  You will use the remaining paste to squeegee across the screen later.  

Into the saved cup of print paste went some dye powder and it was stirred well.  On the flat side of the screen, this dye mixture was spread evenly over the screen and laid paste side up over a rack sitting in a clean cat litter box.  Once the dye mixture is starting to set, you can add items of interest which will leave silhouette outlines when you pull your final prints.  We have used thick foam stamps in the past and this week tried with some shredded paper from the mechanical shredder.  No one is ever going to read those documents again!  When we used the foam stamps they went into the dye infused print paste when it was starting to set up and left until it was nearly or quite dry.  With the shredded paper the screen with the dye infused paste was completely dry because truthfully it has been sitting in the litter box for a LONG time!  Once your screen is ready, you can start the printing fun.  First though, soak your fabric in soda ash just as you would for tie dyeing or liquid dye techniques.  The fabric we used was old pieces of hand dye that wasn't very inspiring and needed something more.

For this piece the shredded paper was sprinkled over some previously dyed fabric and then the screen was placed dye side down on the top of the shredded paper and fabric.  Clear print paste was poured into the well of the screen and gently spread to cover the screen.  As this piece had set so long, it was very solid on the side next to the fabric, and the clear print paste was allowed to sit on the screen for a few minutes to soften the reverse side.  With a squeegee drawn over the print paste in the well, the negative space between the shredded paper was printed onto the fabric.  As you move the screen to cover the fabric you may want to rotate the orientation of the screen.  When the dye infused print paste is all used up or begins to get very light you are likely done.

After a few days of sitting so the dye could bond to the fabric, the piece was washed out and hung to dry.  It needs a good wash as the soda ash as well as the print paste will make it feel stiff.

This piece looks a lot better now than when it was just rainbow dye colors and now can be envisioned cut up in some other project.  What would you make with it?  

Quilt Camp Week 6 - Multiple Colors

The techniques we've shown so far for using Thermofax screens have mostly been one color techniques.  You may be wondering - how do they print t-shirts and other products with multiple colors?  While the commercial process is a bit different from Thermofax screens, there are ways to use multiple colors with screens, and that is our topic for this 6th week of quilt camp. We'll look at ways of blending colors and designs that use more than one screen.  So let's get started.

One way to use multiple colors in a design is to create images with multiple parts - for example, an image that has both "fill" and outline, or one that has both a positive and negative component as the following pictures will show.

This is a 2 part screen for a black-eyed Susan - one screen for the petals and one screen for the center and outline. Print the petals first and allow to dry, so the outline will print on top. Sue's print is above, Elizabeth's is below.

Elizabeth is printing on a background created with breakdown printing, another printing process we'll talk about in a later post.  Her tips are to print off the edge, and don't worry about getting a perfect match when you do a 2-screen print like this.

Here's another flower, this time there's a rectangular outline which creates the negative image (empty space) and then a second screen for the flower itself (positive image).

Above, the positive image is printed over the negative.

These are Sue's finished prints. Hmm...how did those pink flowers end up yellow?  Short answer, she didn't like the original color combination so did another! The yellow center on the right print was added with a paint brush.

You can also use multiple colors on the same screen that will blend as you print, and change slightly with every succeeding print.

Here Sue used yellow and red for some leaf prints.  You'll get the most distinction between colors on the first print.  After that, they will blend as you print to form new colors. So carefully consider your color choices.

Can you tell which is the first print from the paint photo above?

Elizabeth printed a zebra with two colors - gold from Artistic Artifacts at the top and navy blue from Pro-Chem at the bottom.  Her background here is also a breakdown print.

Another way of incorporating multiple colors in a print is by using water soluble crayons like those shown below - Derwent Inktense color blocks and Reeves Water Soluble Wax Pastels.

For this process, start with the screen placed on top of parchment paper (freezer paper would work too).  Apply the color to the screen just by coloring over it. Then place your screen on the fabric you wish to print on.

Matte medium is the product needed to make the print.  Place a line of the medium across the top of the screen and squeegee across it the same as you would with paint.  The medium dissolves the color and prints it through the screen onto the fabric.

The print on the left is done with the Inktense blocks, the fish on the right are done with the Reeves water soluble pastels.  The use of the matte medium adds a little bit of stiffness to these prints, but heat setting with the iron removes most of it.  This method gives you more control over the color placement.  The colors will blend a bit where they overlap, but not as much as using multiple paint colors.

Have fun trying these methods and products to add multiple colors to your prints.  If you see screens you like in this series of posts, look for them in our Etsy shop.  If you don't find them there, feel free to send us an email at pgfiber2art@gmail.com and let us know what you are interested in; we only have about half of our screen catalog in the Etsy shop, but are happy to add upon request.

Screen Printing - Positive and Negative

Another way to incorporate multiple colors with thermofax printing is to combine positive and negative images.  This series of photos shows using this process on a t-shirt, the positive image being the flower and the negative being the rectangle surrounding it.  First is a practice piece where I was testing out different colors.

The next 3 are the process of printing on the shirt, first the negative shapes and then adding the positive (after the first prints dry).  Last is a dab of paint in the center of the flower with a paint brush.

Another example of positive and negative images is one of the pictures from the last post.

 

In this piece, the green and yellow flowers are both done with positive & negative screens  - a blue outline/centers and yellow and green petals.