The definition of a screen print is a picture or design produced by screen printing. What is screen printing or serigraphy? To force ink onto a surface through a screen covered in a fine mesh or fabric to create a picture or pattern.

Screen printing is an extremely versatile medium. It requires few materials and does not need to be printed under pressure making it easy to do at home or in schools. It produces instant results and can be used on many materials fabrics, wood, metal, ceramics paper, glass and plastic. It can also be used to print on clothing such as t shirts, tea towels and aprons. It is also used in industry to print circuit boards.

Getting started

Ideally you will need a large workspace and access to hot and cold running water. A drying rack for finished prints or a clothes line should be in a separate area of the room. Take a screen and lay it on the fine fabric gauze and cut around leaving at least 2 inches all round. Stretch the fabric tautly and evenly until it is as tight as a drum over the bevelled edge of the screen and using a thin strip of flooring lino along each edge of the frame (to protect the fabric) staple it into place. You then have your pre-stretched screen ready for use. The frame can be used again and again for many different projects as long as it is thoroughly cleaned between each ink application and that the ink is never allowed to dry onto the fabric.

Materials

Frame (either wood or metal)

Polyester mesh

Squeegee

Shellac

Printing inks

Waterproof tape

Stencil material

Craft knife

Containers

Paper

Pencils

Old cloths

Protective clothing

Shellac

Shellac is an animal product, a resin secreted from the lac beetle. The resin dries and hardens into a shell like hard covering which is collected, washed, dried and heated and drawn into thin sheets of finished shellac. Shellac is used in many industries. Together with wax it coats your fruit and vegetables to make them look attractive and shiny. The cosmetics industry use it in hairspray and the pharmaceutical industry use it to coat tablets to help them slide more easily down your throat. It is also used as a coating for all your wood work projects as a varnish.

Making liquid shellac

Shellac comes in dried flakes for commercial use. It is mixed with methylated spirits to form a thin liquid. Fill a jelly jar with shellac flakes slowly add the methylated spirits to the flakes. Shake the jar until the flakes dissolve add more meths’ to the correct consistency. After mixing it has to be left to stand for an hour or so until it reaches the right thickness. It may be painted onto a blank part of the screen to judge when the mix is right. When it dries, hold the screen up to the light. If the shellac is too thin there will be pinholes of light which can be covered with a second layer of shellac.

Reduction printing

Tape your design onto the back of the screen and trace it with a 2B pencil. The shellac is used to create the stencil. Start painting on the shellac blocking out only those parts that you want to keep as the base colour or the colour of the original fabric. This is the first step of the reduction printing process. The shellac is applied to other parts of the screen after printing each colour in turn, building up the layers of colour, starting with the lightest and working through to the darkest. This process can be used to print on paper, fabric or other materials. If you are printing onto fabric it needs to be well ironed and then stuck to the working surface using either well diluted wallpaper paste or diluted PVA. Use masking tape along all edges to ensure that the fabric remains fixed to the surface.

Stencils

Stencils can be made from other substances. The cheapest option is paper stencils made from unprinted newsprint, these can be cut to very fine lines and can be printed three or four times before they start to deteriorate. They are an excellent option if money is limited. Other stencils are self adhesive peel off stencils that can be ironed onto the screen. Paint-on screen block fluid can also be used.

Making your screen print

Place a piece of paper on the table under your screen then put a couple of spoonfuls of printing ink on the edge of the screen furthest from you (people differ on this technique) place your squeegee just behind the line of ink and draw it forward holding the squeegee at a 45° angle to the work surface. This is your first test screen print and you may then continue onto your speciality paper or fabric.