Ok well that didn’t go very well. Oy!
I included my screen prior to start to show the errors or issues I had while adding the goop.
I drew outlined and filled in the rabbit using the sharpie, the pencil, and the pastel. Then I outlined the flower (a beading pattern from my late grandma) using the true red marker. I added a pair of beaded earrings and a very special eagle feather I was gifted.
Trial and error. I will try to print and see what happens.
Hi Renee
OK, I see a couple of things. Let’s deal with each one.
to start, the coating looks OK, but if you notice how some parts are darker (the rabbit has a dark patch going through the centre) this is caused by not waiting for the emulsion (the goo) to settle along the edge of the coater against the screen – if you start your coating stroke before the emulsion is covering from side to side of the coater, it doesn’t coat evenly, only where the goo was contacting the screen. the solution? Wait a little longer until the goo is all along the edge.
I have a question…..I see the feather and the earring are sitting on top of the glass. Was the film with the rabbit on top of the glass too?
When we burn the screen, the found objects (and the film) need to be on the screen/emulsion, then put the glass down.
the reason the feather and the earrings have a halo and not much detail is because when they sit on top of the glass, they are not making full contact with the emulsion, and light is leaking around the edges and partially exposing the screen.
Parts of the rabbit did wash out – that’s what we want, and the stencil where it is solid outside the images is good, so we know the exposure worked to lock in the stencil material.
the only problem is capturing the rest of the detail, and getting it to wash out…..so, if the film was on top of the glass, that might be part of the problem. the other is the light has penetrated the drawing – the lines on the drawing did not block light, or not enough. the solution is to ink it in darker. One way to check the opacity (darkness) of the lines is to put the film up on a window or something with a backlight – you will see quickly if areas on the drawing are dark enough – the areas that burned on the stencil worked – is there e a difference in the opacity between that part of the drawing, and the other parts that didn’t wash out?
If you see the faint lines that didn’t wash out (due to not being dark enough) you can ‘gently’ scrub it with a soft sponge or your finger, then wash more, with more pressure. It may break the stencil, but sometimes it will allow that part of the stencil to open up.
We’re going to reclaim both the screens on Monday, and now you have your coating down, it will give you 2 more chances to work on getting a good exposure.
A fun thing you might try is to go ahead and print the feather and the earrings in a light colour, and then try an exposure again with both under the glass. this will give you a sharper image, and you could then register that to the feather and the earring, print the new images in a darker colour, and you would have two very interesting prints.
Hi Renee,
It looks good! The effect around the feather looks beautiful (and meaningful!)
What it looks went wrong is that the screen was over exposed – as in it received too much light. That may of happened because the light was too close to the screen. From your pictures it looks like you were on the 5th notch from the top, and not the 4th. Here’s a picture so that you can check and let us know if that is what happened.
ps. thanks for including so many pictures! I really love seeing your whole process and it helps us better understand to provide support.