take a class at a community college

" take a class at a community college"



can i? I'm only 14 years old. Do you think you have to be 18?

you have to burn screens in using transparenices printed from a laser printer, then ruc inks on the screen, with one screen for every color you use, then a silkscreen oven to dry the ink

I decided to actually look at what i wrote this time, and make another comment with things spelled the right way:



you have to burn screens in using transparenciesprinted from a laser printer, then rub inks on the screen, with one screen for every color you use, then a silkscreen oven to dry the ink

Okay that seems very general compared to the things i saw already. What does burn screens in mean? And i never saw anything about an oven; just the wooden frame thing. Also, there was something about UV sensative light..

Do you have a silkscreening shop in your town? If so, I bet they would let you sit in and watch the process one day.

You need light sensitive emulsion which you slap to your screen as a thin layer and let it dry. Place the image film on top of the screen (which should lay horizontally on a flat surface), zap it with UV-light for a given period of time to harden the emulsion.

Wash the screen (shower/ tub/swimming pool) and the areas which weren't affected by the UV-light clear away and let the colour pass through when you start printing cool shirts in your own shop. That's my 101 in a commentbox.

THanks Gerpander that was very helpfull. I also read something on something having holes and the more holes the better? Do you know what this is talkin about?

Just that if you're going to print posters etc. you need finer screens with more holes per square inch, for fabric you don't need as "high resolution" screens - and they are cheaper too.

Screen shops and suppliers know what's best for what and I bet they're helpful if asked politely, heh.

doesnt your school have a tech graphic comm class? Ours does, I took it twice (the second time for zero credit just so I had Screen,ink, exposure,dryer access.) you learn some sweet stuff in those type classes like full lessons on photoshop, thermal screening, silk screening.



If your only fourteen then your going into highschool or already in 9th grade. Serioulsy look into it.



ohh look for the following in the course selection



Intro to Graphic Communications

Technical Graphic Communications

Graphic Design Production

ohh if you take the class, get friendlywith the teacher so when other kids only print one shirt design for thier project he/she lets you crank out like 10 designs

http://www.stencilrevolution.com/tutorials/tutorialsview.php?id=7



this method is good if you're just printing for yourself. cheap too. there are a couple of other tutorials on the site with slightly differing methods. personally, i use a screen printing textile medium, mix it 1:1 with acrylic and use that. seems to work really nicely :)

Hey Jaycee,

Yeah i'm already familiar with stenciling. Ive stenciled a few shirts now. It's just that they usually come out unproffessional looking. I was hoping screening would producebetter results.



And to AlecFrieco,

I am goin into 10th next year but i already signed up for Java/C++. I just went to my schools site and saw that there is a class for 10th graders called Graphic Communication Technology I where u can do screening. Im so mad for not seeing that. I guess all have to wait till 11th grade :(

buy a kit. they are about 30 to 50 dollars. it comes with a book that tells you everything you need. the screen making is the most annouying part. once you make the screens its really easy after that

you don't really need a special oven for screen printing. it all depends on what type of ink you use. the ink where you have to use the oven for to dry is cancer causing and i wouldn't use it unless you really knew what you were doing. you can buy the normal ink with is pretty much just like normal fabric paint but better. after you screen the image on to the shirt, put a piece of paper over it and iron it for 3-5 minutes. that will keep the ink from fading and look more professional

I believe you can attend community college if you get some paper signed by your school and parents.. at lease that is how it works out here in ca where I live

Around here all the best colours are water based anyway, haven't used anything else on Tees, and dry rather fast.

No oven necessary, you could use a hairdryer or small hand held hot air gun (proper term missing here) if you have quicken the dry up.

The best thing of course is to take a screen course if you have a chance.

greengirigibles,

go talk to a guidence couselor see if you can switch your class

i haven't read all the previous comments, but i did it at home with a kit i bought at an art store. it was a speedball kit that comes with everything you need except for the lightbulb. it comes with very good instructions and three colors of ink. it was like 30 bucks and a pretty good deal if you make enough shirts. blank shirts are only 1-5 dollars each and if you sell you can definitely make a profit.

So I didn't read all the replies and someone may have already said this, but the easiest way to get started is the get a silk screen from your local arty craftsy store and some construction paper. You'll probably need some fabric paints too. And fabric. Use duct tape or packing tape on both sides of the screen to create your frame of reference, and create a bit of an ink well. Cut some basic stencils to start from the construction paper, lay them on top of your fabric and put the screen over top. (this is actually kind of complicated for a blog response, i think, but you can maybe find some books at that arty craftsy store). Empty some paint into the ink well, use a squeegie or some sort of wood/plastic with a rounded edge to push the ink to one end, and then pull it back. Carefully lift your screen and voila!

There's also something cool called a Print Gocco from Japan that lets you turn line drawings into small screens.

Anyway, this is the best starting point, and once you get the hang of it you can move into photo emulsion silk screening, which is the most difficult, frustrating and sometimes time consuming thing ever. Especially if you haven't got a light table.

"..photo emulsion silk screening, which is the most difficult, frustrating and sometimes time consuming thing ever. "



Well I don't think so. Don't you start scaring people off of a great hobby :)

It might be cumbersome at first, but it's still just a series of work routines in making a print. And the more you do it, the more you get used to it doing well.

The work steps in getting to finally do a print might get boring when you do it alot but it's not frustrating when you get your Tee in the end. Right?

What is time consuming is cutting up stencils and maybe ruining them after one print, when having a photo-emulsion screen which you can use literally hundreds of times.



"Especially if you haven't got a light table."



Well, there are ways around it, but I have never needed one.

And now with pretty much everything easily done with a computer, there is little need for it (depends though).

Dang, should I try to make a small tutorial "how to" over the weekend and put it online? I have to wash couple screens anyway and make a screen or two.. Not promising anything though, I'm a bit Benderish on weekends.

I have questions:

1) Is there a special name of light i should look for?

2) Does the emulsion stay on they screen forever?

3) Can you take the screen off the frame and save it for later use?

4) is there a special kind of ink besides fabric paint?



Thanks for helping, everyone. And gerpander that would awesome if you made a tutorial. I found a pretty cool site explaining the process:

http://www.fobclothing.com/shirtprocess.php

for supplies www.dickblick.com is a good place and has all sorts of screen supplies

You could also go to cutxpaste.com where they're selling a DIY screenprinting book. Now, to try and answer your questions, although gerpander may be better suited to answer.

1- There is a way to do it using sunlight. The time consuming part is just figuring out the timing. Once you've got it, though, I will say that photo emulsion silkscreening becomes an obsession.

2- Before being exposed, the emulsion will stay on for a long time, as long it's kept in the dark. Once exposed, it will last a while, but we ran into some problems with the emulsion flaking off during cleaning post-printing

3- I wouldn't recommend taking the screen off since putting it on involves a lot of stretching, but you could always have a couple of screens going.

4- i dunno. But one of my teachers runs an eco-friendly (i think) pigment collection called color vie! (or coloUr vie!)

" You could also go to cutxpaste.com where they're selling a DIY screenprinting book."



With the last 10 dollars i had left in my wallet, I ordered the book. I really can't wait till i get it! But now i need to make some money to buy the supplies. With that said:



If you or somebody you know needs a cheap good quality graphics designer, tell him/her to visit a partner and my site. it's www.lcdesigns.cornoncob.com . We just started up and have yet to receive offers. That is why we are starting out rediculously cheap, so we can build up a portfolio and reputation.



Thanks everybody for all your help!

Sorry but i have another question:

What is the difference between doin a stencil on a silkscreen and a stencil with a paint roller directly onto the shirt?

you can do it over and over and over again with a silk screen. I mean, with a simple stencil you could also do it over and over again(use freezer paper-it irons on), but if it's a complicated stencil you don't have to try and reassemble it for multiple prints.

if you are hardcore buy some rublylith, and some sesitizer and you can use the sun outside as a lightable.. takes practice though to not let it look like poopy.