The Pink Pill is a 3 colour screen print. Here’s a little HOW TO post to turn a doodle on a sketchbook into a screen printed piece of art. The first thing you will notice about it is it is not pink. when saving lots of images onto my computer, as I do, you get used to naming things fast and with little thought. I liked the name The Pink Pill that much even if after found that I didn’t like it when I tried it in pink. I guess I could try printing it with pink ink.
The starting point for this project, like so many, is with me and my head in a sketchbook. As you can see from the following sketchbook page, I have drawn a ‘pill’ shape and kept the doodle mayhem inside. If not contained, the mayhem can spread… uncontrollably.
Once I have decided on what I want to print, I set about creating separations in preparation for the screen printing process. I choose 3 colours (for 3 colour inks later) and on Photoshop create 3 layers, one for each colour ink.
I chose grey, black and turquoise, not pink.
The next steps I will go into detail later (er….maybe). Here is the bullet-pointed version.
- Clean the screens (3 screens = 3 colours) – Leave to dry
- Send separations file to printer, they print it on clear film or opaque drafting type paper
- Put emulsion on screen in dark room. Leave to dry
- Blast UV light at screen with one of the separation images to block out the light
- Wash emulsion off the screen. Where the UV light has blocked the screen the emulsion will wash away
- Prepare inks (also testing them can give you the result you wanted)
- Prepare printing set up – ensuring each paper is at the same place (registration)
- Print with squeegee (first colour)
- Clean screen
- Go to step 7 to repeat that part of the process for the 2nd and then 3rd colours
Yes it is a bit of a process. Some of it I do in my shed (shedio) and some at East London Printmakers where you can hire space. The printing part I do in the shed but although it is possible to set up a home set up in full without too much cost, it would never be as user friendly as at East London Print.
Here’s the sales pitch. You should buy one.
Kia ora