Attempt of screen exposure! Learning lesson

Hi all! My husband and I attempted to expose my objects and image today. I actually was worried that my drawings lines would be too thin especially for my first print. And I was correct! I mean some of the lines came out okay but I will draw a thicker lined drawing once we learn how to reclaim the screens and hope to get a more successful image. Second! My found objects were a feather and a fern. The fern almost printed perfectly except for the middle. I noticed there were a few wet drops around the fern when the exposure was on so I’m wondering if that’s why I couldn’t washout all the emulsion? I probably sprayed the screen for almost an hour trying to get everything out with no avail, I even used a sponge together with the sprayer to see if that would help. Its tough as well since I can see the outline of the image that needed to be taken off. I’m wondering if its because I didn’t lightly rinse the screen first and wait a couple minutes; i had started while I asked my husband to check the video and he yelled at me in the bathroom to remind me about the pre-washout so I then let it set for a few minutes before returning (lots of thoughts and how it could have gone wrong). I also stopped my exposure about 4 min in because I forgot to add the black shirt and then I redid it. Not sure if that made a difference either. Unfortunately with these screen images I don’t think it’ll be worth printing but I’d like to spend this week really reworking the process to get a good image to have printed on both paper and a shirt by the end of this coming week.

(Also since we are working on the floor my husband used our kettlebell as a weight and it worked perfectly haha!)

7 comments

  1. Here are my attempts of printing! I didn’t have any spare shirts so i used a leftover tote. I forgot fabric needs to be flat so I will need to make sure it’s flattened better next time!

  2. I found coating the screen easier than doing my first few prints we did in the first week. My washout station is not set up for washing my exposed screen. I am waiting for the the shower nozzle extender to come in. Amazon’s estimated date is February 1 or 2. I did do a hand print with the slogan “Stop the bullying”. If it works out I have a couple of pink shirts I want to print for February 26. I also have 3 tiny ferns place in the corner of the anti bullying design. I have attached a picture of what I have completed so far.

  3. Almost there.

    The fern and feather need to be under the glass, but no worries – we will try the reclaiming and you should have two frames to play with next time.

    I think the centre burning in and not washing out is partly not being under the glass, but also the bulb out put being really intense in the centre. Maybe we need to back the light off and move it up a notch.

    Yes, with the image, go with thicker lines. I mentioned in the other thread to check it out against some backlight. You could ink on both sides just to make it darker.

    Just set up and do a few prints – you need to practice setup and teardown, do a mashup with the fern and the drawing and the feather – no risk! You don’t have to tape it all out for each one.

    1. Hi Andy! Its hard to see with the photos I think but both the feather and the fern are under the glass 🙂

      Inking both sides is a great suggestion!
      I’ll try do some prints before I go to bed tonight.

      See you tomorrow!

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