'All Eyes & Beard' Mk3 - Screen printing

My feelings towards screen printing seems to be changing on a daily basis - i want to love it, but it keeps screwing me over for no apparent reason. Today we're back to frustration and annoyance, but at the same time I've got to the point where i finally stopped caring (well not totally, just a little bit). Because its seems no matter how much you try and prepare everything for screen printing, there's aways something that goes pear-shaped, and today was no different. If it's not one thing it's another, and I'm not entirely sure it was all down to me this time? 

But again, I've reached a deflated, unsatisfactory finale where i just want to get this done and dusted and from what I've been told by tutors, I'll get awarded more marks for making a right hash of my prints than if they come out absolutely perfect?! So i should be getting 100% i reckon

The omens were there from step one to be honest. I had to expose & clean the screen twice as it just wasn't coming out as clear as i wanted/needed and it even with this screen exposure that i actually used it still had 'misty' areas of emulsion that weren't coming off even after power washing it. I have infinity patience, but i was getting annoyed.

Can somebody please tell why the pull onto Kodatrace comes out absolutely flawless, like so, so clean - I'm mean look at them, they're awesome! But as soon as you want to print it onto paper it can look so average,and often does. I should really ask someone about that. Not that it matters, i can't hand in a sheet of plastic.


For once the application of the 1st colour layer was my nemesis today, and i can't work out why.Love the colour though, which again, was a modification of someones leftover paint, to which i added some yellow to.Trawling through the leftovers is always fun. I found it tricky to apply enough pressure down the centre of the design (where the block colour was) as well as down the sides where the halftones brick were. The paint also seemed usually slippery, so i really couldn't get much pressure onto the screen as it was slipping down too fast. This lead to patchy, at times invisible halftones, but weirdly they would be pale at the top but would come back stinger towards the bottom. Also, the block colour was coming out once and even, but the halftones on the eyeballs, which was in the same place.

Why god, whyyy?

It didn't make sense. I even forgot to take photos i was so tired of it all, which would've shown what I'm on about much better. I tried putting pressure more on the ends of the squeegee, i tries doing it in two pulls (side by side) then i eve tried doing it horizontally. Nothing seemed to improve it. Even the testers on newsprint weren't coming out as great as they usually do. I hadn't totally lost interest in making a sole quality print so i ran to get some more decent paper, knowing there was a pretty good chance of the paint drying onto the screen by the time i'd got the paper and cut it to size..and it had indeed. Sooo, a full clean and wait to dry again was done in pursuit of some top quality final prints. There must've been some part of me that gave a shit still, clearly.

(Deliberate offset version)

Faint Halftone in eyes

Halftone inside keyhole virtually missing ,
although this did give it the appearance of the unicorn being in
the mist, in the distance.On some of the prints anyway!

The reprints came out a bit better, but the printing of the halftones continued to be a bit inconsistent and pale. Plus the misty screen exposure was making the trees look patchy.
The black on the other hand was a almost a dream to work with.The trapping was making things easier to line up, not perfectly mind, but better than when i first started the project. One major downside was, again, halftones not coming out strong enough, or AT ALL?! The unicorn in the keyhole is all but invisible on the majority of the prints, i couldn't get my head around why? But like i said, one day the alignment goes well and the pulling or exposures dont, and vice-versa. Don't seem to be able to win with this screen printing lark. 


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Turns out, that as my prints were left in various drying racks as they were all pretty full, i'd forgotten to print black onto 3 of my better orange prints. Part of me just said sod it , I'll make do - the other part of me said "agh, what if i pull a perfect print?" So as it would just be an in&out  job i went a finished the last 3 prints, and they came out pretty damn ok. Why can't it come together all at once, on the same day?! Anyway, that i believe concludes my screen printing odessy for this module.Despite the setbacks and many, many sheets of prints which I'm struggling to find a use for I'm keen to keep it a regular thing and part of my practice.

I say that now - as soon as something goes wrong next time, ill be running straight for the digital print dungeon no doubt!