![]() I really liked the look of the white background of the skulls on the cream bag, so I made a stencil. In the meantime, you can add other little embellishments to your paper or bag before printing. Try to be patient, but if you’re really antsy, use a fan placed at a distance from the screen. Times will vary depending on the humidity of your work room. I then set the screen aside, laid out flat to dry for roughly an hour. …until I finished and got something like this: Now I simply traced my drawing by painting with the drawing fluid directly onto the mesh of the silkscreen… This raises the screen just enough to prevent the drawing fluid from touching your drawing underneath, but still allows you to see what you’re tracing over. I eyed where the corners of the screen were, and folded up bits of masking tape and taped them onto the table surface where the four corners would go. Then I put the screen over the drawing, with the inside of the screen facing up like so: I put a bit of tape on it to hold it in place. I laid my drawing down just the way I wanted it to appear on my bag. I set myself up on a lap desk since it was comfortable. Once this was done, I grabbed my paintbrush, masking tape, drawing fluid, and my drawing. ![]() ![]() I used masking tape to tape off the edges of my screen to prevent filler and ink from going all over the place. I got a clean screen that I knew my design would fit in, leaving about a one inch gap around the borders. Next, I taped the pieces together so I could keep the layout as is, but move it around easily. Here’s the result, laid out on the tote bag: I found it easier to draw a skull, cut it out, draw another, cut it out, and so on so I could fit them together as I went. To start, I created a sketch of a number of animal skulls, not worrying about scale, but rather focusing on design: an interlocking, loose puzzle feel. Since I don’t have such easy access to skulls where I live now (that sounds really bizarre…) I can nurture my interest with drawings, and in this case, wearable prints! The difference is that unlike most girls, I wanted to study the skull and have it cleaned up so I could keep it. I grew up in the country, so it’s not too weird to find a deer or coyote skull out in the woods. My design was inspired by an interest in animal skeletons, especially skulls. Silkscreen (silkscreen mesh on an embroidery hoop works in a pinch if you don’t want to drop the money on a screen) * When the screen filler is dry, the drawing fluid is rinsed out, and you’re left with a stencil of your drawing! This creates a ground that cannot be washed away by water. * Screen filler is a brick-red chemical that you squeegee over the screen once the drawing fluid has dried. You typically paint a POSITIVE, meaning if you paint a smiley face, you’re going to get a print of the smiley face. * Drawing fluid is a blue water-soluble goo that you paint directly onto a screen. It’s very important to use the same brand chemicals because they’re formulated to work together and produce a consistent, guaranteed result. * I’m using Speedball Brand chemicals, inks, and hardware. After communication with the Speedball Company, I got a new kit in the mail, and this is the first time I’ve tried out the fresher batch of drawing fluid. I was sorely disappointed when the screen filler washed out, and the photo emulsion wouldn’t. After breezing through stencils, I moved on to drawing fluid and photo emulsion. I got a Speedball Silkscreen kit a few Christmases ago. Printmaking is both extremely satisfying, and mind-blowingly frustrating at times.
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