I still needed supplies even after my last shopping trip, so I went online to dickblick.com. I wish I would have just ordered everything this way to begin with although I always feel guilty for some reason. (I should shop at all those NYC mom & pops and save shipping!)
I got two basic starter ink kits for printing on paper (Versatex water based for fabric/paper), 2 (8×10″) stretched screens, and four more 10×14′s. Plus, two yards of monofilament fabric. 232 and 305 TPI (threads per inch). These are some of the highest thread counts they have; the higher thread counts are supposed to be better for more detail and I intend on using them for printing wedding invitations on paper. I also got a spool of cording to stretch them with.
I measured out the yard of 305TPI fabric to get six pieces for my 10×14″ frames. I used a rounded rectangular metal kitchen blade that’s too dull for chopping to push the cording into the grooves around the frame. This doesn’t take too long to do, but it was a little stressful. I put on some Dylan to make it more enjoyable. The final stretched piece should be taut like a drum.
Friday afternoon at 3:10 I went to the photo district in Manhattan to buy a photo flood bulb and a red safe light. I discovered that 17th Street Photo and Adorama were both closed before 4 on Fridays. I went to the nearby Calumet and even though they were open, they didn’t have safe lights! I bought the 250 watt daylight flood, as recommended on No Media Kings blog. They have great step by step instructions for beginners.
When I got home, Bennett and I squeegeed photo emulsion (Speedball Diazo-very easy two-step process; exactly like mixing hair dye! You dilute the little bottle with water and pour it into the big bottle.) on each side of the screens. We later found that we put way too much on. You only need to put the emulsion on the side of the screen that lays flat. It will seep through to the other side and then you can squeegee it again without adding extra emulsion. We let them dry for two hours in our bathtub.
High contrast transparencies are placed on top of the silkscreen after the photo emulsion has dried and then exposed to light.
An image in the process of being exposed. The halogen work lamp is clamped to a metal bar under our table and the print sits underneath on the shelf.
While they were drying we set up a makeshift exposure station under our kitchen table.
The photo bulb I bought blew out as soon as he screwed it in. Really annoying. So we decided to use the halogen worklamp I have downstairs for painting. We did a test print at around 30 minutes.
I did these designs in the computer and printed them on to transparencies. You put the transparency on top of your screen with a piece of glass on top of it. The image should look as it will on your final print. I put a black fleece cape underneath to keep the light from reflecting back up through the image.
We had no idea how to expose it since the recommendations we’d read were for the photo lamp (15 min). The first exposure turned out ok, but kind of fuzzy. I had read that fuzzy could mean too long of an exposure, so we reduced the exposure on the next one. That image didn’t take at all and the emulsion washed right off when we sprayed it in the sink. We took this to mean that we didn’t let the emulsion dry long enough, and so let our next batch of screens dry overnight in a Rubbermaid container with a heavy blanket on top to further light-proof the seal. (Turns out after many tests that we just needed to make longer exposures, those emulsions were probably dry enough.)
One way to keep your screens away from the light while they dry is to put them in a Rubbermaid container and stack them. We put votive candles in between them which worked great to keep them from sticking together.
We separated them with votive candles placed on the corners. This works pretty well, except the one on the bottom gets dripped on. The first batch this was a problem since we over applied the emulsion. But in a second batch, I was able to work around the drips since the emulsion was so thin. (**NOTA BENA: We have since decided the Rubbermaid drying system was a bad idea. The screens do not dry evenly, or quickly.**)
It’s a trial and error process which I really enjoy. Reminds me of my days in the darkroom in photo school, pre-digital! I know, you’d never guess I have a BFA in Photography by the black cape under table setup…and the accompanying snapshots. But really this is a part of photography I’ve missed. After making a few successful exposures, I’m going to say that with a halogen worklamp 15″ above your screen and a very thin emulsion 50 minutes seems to work best for optimal detail. But remember it’s a lot of educated guesswork in the beginning and be prepared to constantly revise your setup, materials, and exposure times until you get something that works for you.
