Lesson 4 Outline:
How to Reclaim Your Screen
Reusing Your Screen
Stretching Screens
Printing More Than One Color
Color Mixing
Conclusion
First off, let’s talk about how to reclaim your screen and what that means.
How to Reclaim Your Screen:
Reclaiming your screen means to wash off all of the screen filler in order to get the screen to be clean and blank. Once it is blank, you can then add a new image, starting from scratch. Screens can be used over and over again.
Step 1:
Get a cleaning solution. You can use Greased Lightning Cleanser OR 1 cup of Arm & Hammer’s Washing Soda dissolved in 1 gallon of water.
Step 2:
Spray on or pour your cleaning solution onto the screen. Spread it around with a scrub brush on both sides of the screen, then let it sit for about 10 minutes to really sink in.
Step 3:
Scrub a bit more, then wash off with a stream of lukewarm or warm water. You can use the hose outside with spray nozzle or you can use your shower.
Step 4:
Keep repeating steps 2 and 3 until your screen is clear and all of the screen filler residue has been removed.
Reusing Your Screen:
You can use your screen over and over again with a new image each time as long as you clean it out well and prepare it for use the same way that we did in lesson 2. If you clean your screen out well each time and do not allow ink to get trapped on your screen and dry, your screen will last for years to come.
If for some reason you do not clean your screen out well enough or if you get a dried area of ink that will not come off, then it is time to stretch a new screen, as I will discuss in the section below.
Stretching Screens:
I decided to add information about stretching screens in this lesson as an added bonus. You will only need to stretch a new screen if you have washed out and reclaimed your screen so many times that it is no longer useable. You will most likely not need to stretch a new screen onto your frame for a few years in most cases, so keep this information handy – you might need it sometime down the line!
You will need the following items to stretch a new screen: your old frame with its unusable old screen fabric removed (just tear or cut it out), new screen fabric (You can get this at most art supply stores – I typically use 110 mesh for my screens if I am printing shirts and 220 mesh if I am printing fine detailed pieces onto paper.), a staple gun, a hammer, and duct tape. It really helps if you have a friend with you to help stretch the screen too. It’s pretty difficult to get a good, tight screen by doing this alone, so I always have someone help me.
Step 1:
Cut your new screen fabric to be slightly larger than the screen itself. Give yourself about 5 or more inches of excess fabric on each side. It should look like this:
Step 2:
To hold the screen in place and start the stapling pattern, use your staple gun and place a staple in the center of each side of the frame, like this:
Step 3:
Now ask your friend to help you as you stretch the screen. Have your friend add the staples while you pull the screen tight around the frame. Put staples on each side of the initial 4 staples you put in the screen. Pull the screen tight as your friend adds the staples; they should be about 1” apart. Now you will have 3 staples on each of the 4 sides, for a total of 12 staples altogether. We are stretching the screen from the inside out for a tight center, instead of just adding staples in a row across each edge with no rhyme or reason. Be sure to pull really tight – the tighter the pull, the better the screen!
Step 4:
Keep rotating the frame and adding staples on each side until you get to the corners. It’s okay if the staples aren’t completely flat to the frame; we will hammer them down later.
Step 5:
Once you get to the corners, fold the screen fabric like you would a present, creating a little triangle-like edge that you can staple down. Alternatively, you can just bunch the fabric up and pull it together then add a staple over the little bundle. There is no right or wrong way to do the corners, so don’t worry too much about this step. You really can’t mess up the screen at this point. Just staple a few times to get the fabric to hold down over each corner, and in the end, it will look like this:
Step 6:
Use a pair of scissors to trim away the excess fabric, leaving about 1” of fabric coming off the side of the frame:
It should look like this after trimming:
Step 7:
Now check to see if you have any staples that are not flat to the wood of the frame. I had a few that were not flat, and you can see them here:
Use a hammer to pound those staples down and get them to be flush to the wood of the frame. You don’t want to leave any sticking up, because they could end up poking through the duct tape layer that we are about to add to the frame.
Step 8:
Now it’s time to add duct tape to hold everything down and to protect the staples from water when you rinse out the screen.
Cut a strip of duct tape that is about the same length as the side you are about to cover. Wrap duct tape around each edge until it is fully covered. It might take two strips of tape per edge to cover the wood.
Once you are done, it should look like this:
Enjoy using your new and improved screen!
Printing More Than One Color:
Printing in more than one color is an advanced technique that might take you a bit of practice, but I am including it here because I want you to know how to do it should you decide you need a challenge and want to take the process a bit further.
You will need one more additional supply to really help you line things up with this multi-color process. You should get hinge clamps for your screen. I use Speedball Deluxe Hinge Clamps in my studio, and they can be found online here:
http://www.dickblick.com/products/speedball-deluxe-hinge-clamps/
Set yourself up with the clamps using an old table or a board that you have designated especially for screen printing. If you do not want to get clamps, you can still just ask a friend to help you, but make sure they have a really steady hand as they hold your screen!
Ok, let’s get started with a two color process:
Let’s say you create a layered image that needs to be printed in two colors like this fox image I made below.
Here is the fox’s body color:
Here is the fox’s outline:
Step 1:
Print the first color as you would normally onto your t-shirt or piece of paper. Allow that print to dry.
Here is how my first color looked alone:
Step 2:
Find a thick piece of clear plastic or mylar, then tape one side of it down onto your table so that it can be lifted up like a hinge, like so:
(Please note that my plastic is only partially clear – there are still traces of previous images that I hadn’t washed off yet – oops!)
Step 3:
Now, print your image onto the clear plastic, and without moving the screen (keep it clamped down or held tightly), place your previously printed image below the plastic using the previous print to line the image up underneath, like this:
Step 4:
Next you will flip back the image on the clear plastic, allowing you to print directly onto the paper or t-shirt with your first image. As long as you didn’t move the screen during the process, your second part should print perfectly onto the first part:
Color Mixing:
For your first print, I’d like you to use the black ink that came with the kit. Not too exciting, I know, but the Speedball Black ink has the perfect consistency for beginning printers, therefore, it is the best ink to learn with. Some other colors of Speedball ink are too drippy or don’t have enough coverage, while the black is just right and will provide excellent results without a lot of troubleshooting.
For the future, here is a little primer on how to mix colors. Start with small amounts of color. You don’t want to make too much ink, and if you start by mixing up a tiny amount of your desired color, you can always add to it and make more later. Screen printing ink is kind of pricey, so don’t use a ton of it right away! Let’s say you want to make orange. Start with a small glob of yellow and add a tiny dash of red into the color, mix well, and see what you think. Add tiny bits of red until you get it where you want it to be.
Color Mixing Trick:
As a bonus, here is the best trick about color mixing that I learned in college…
Let’s say you have a bright red, and you want to turn it into a brick red. Most people would start by adding brown or black to red, but this is all wrong! It all goes back to the color wheel:
When trying to create a duller or darker version of a color, instead of adding brown or black, add a bit of the color on the opposite side of the color wheel. This is the color’s complimentary color. In our example’s case, to made bright red a brick red, you’d add a tiny bit of green to start, and you’d keep adding green until you got your desired brick red color.
The other complimentary color pairs are: yellow and purple, and orange and blue. This works great for any pair of complimentary colors! Have fun with this great trick!
Conclusion:
Thank you so much for making art with me! I hope you enjoyed making shirts, totes, and all kinds of other goodies with your new screen printing skills. I think you’ll find that with screen printing, the possibilities for new surfaces to print on are as endless as the amount of image ideas you can come up with! I hope screen printing is a new art form that you will enjoy for years to come.
Thanks again for joining me!
Tessa McSorley