Thursday 16 June 2011


Today was the last day of my Screen Printing Course. Ordinarily it would be sad at the thought of a course being over, but not this one. Having completed the course I am now able to screen print whenever I want. You can not believe how much joy this is giving me (although if you've been reading my posts on screen printing over the last few weeks, you've probably got a pretty good idea).


I was a little bit nervous about this week's lesson. Remember my disasters of last week? And then everyone was telling me how much harder it is to print on fabric. Printing on fabric is obviously my main raison d'ĂȘtre for screen printing and if I'm having problems before I even get to the fabric stage, what chances do I have of succeeding?


Needless to say, all worries and concerns immediately evaporated as soon as I got going. Maybe it was the anticipation of disaster. Maybe it was the fact that I knew i needed full concentration today. Maybe it was the fact that some of the processes (making screen, printing technique) were becoming a bit more natural, leaving me able to concentrate on today's new aspect.

I'm not going to worry too much about what made it feel right, but enjoy the fact that it did.
I brought with a variety of fabrics to get a feel for how printing worked on the different textures. I wasn't sure I'd make a good print on linen, being causer and less smooth than cotton, but the linen I'm using at the moment is fairly close weaved, so this didn't seem to be as problematic as I'd envisaged.


The shirting worked a treat. It's very smooth and takes the ink beautifully. I'll be using these fabrics quite a bit.

The Klona cottons worked a treat too. I'm going to need to play around with colours however as even thought the pale blue took beautifully on the brown, the pink came out a little bit murky. Whereas on the white the pink was lovely and vivid.

I chose designs today that I could experiment various styles to see how they come out on the fabric. I wanted to play around with the font stamps I have, so included both of those. I also wanted to see how intricate detailing would show.

I think because I had such little expectations today, the results have thrilled me even more. I'm learning what works and what needs changing. I've booked to go in again on Monday and looking forward to playing around and experimenting some more and then, my friends, I'll start to get my mind ordered as to producing pieces that will actually be used.

This is just the beginning...

7 comments:

Whitney-Anne Baker said...

interesting to see how the different versions work and what a variety you've managed to get from one simple design. A very exciting beginning!

linda said...

very exciting ..........they all look good and so different with the coloured fabrics good luck with it .

Anonymous said...

Your fabrics are really great, absolutely brilliant for a first time!! No wonder you want to go back.

Leanne said...

Oh how exciting for you. I love screen printing. I am trying to get back into it but life just gets in the way. Your prints look fabulous. Can't wait to see your future fabrics..

Nicky said...

the girl dun good methinks! I look foward to seeing more of your lovely designs

Anonymous said...

Wow, what a productive session! Really interesting to see all the different effects achieved with the same design in different colours/textures. Good luck with your screen printing adventure!

cilla rule said...

Great results, I am glad you are having such fun with this - it is great to develop a new interest and gives one a whole new lease of life I think. Love all your work

Cilla Rule