Me : * is trying to do anything*
My brain: do something else
Me: but I’m busy this needs doing
My brain: something. Else. Soemthing. Pionltess.
aliceboal
You’re missing off contact!! The screen is not supposed to be resting on the paper/whatever your printing on. I’m a professional screen printer :D
kaylameinke
Hey PJ, I did screen printing at Uni, so here’s my advice for next time:
1. I think you got fuzzy edges because of using an inkjet printer for your acetate. Try to find somewhere that can laser print into acetate as that should give a cleaner edge to your shapes and also be more opaque.
2. I’m not sure if you did this or if the ink you were using was already mixed, but normally for screen printing you mix your ink/acrylic paint with a screen printing medium to make it a better consistency. This should help it flow through your screen better.
3. When ‘flooding’ your screen, only pull the squeegee across once (maybe you realised this, but not sure). Going across twice will force too much ink through and is likely to give you fuzzy edges and leave a mottled/bubbles effect in your ink where its pulled away from the screen mesh.
Hope this helps!
katyminns
Pj, , , , a sheet of glass. Literally you can find them in picture frames lmao
decissivemoss
I wonder if the brain gremlin has a brain gremlin...?
ktxi
hey pj, former industrial screen printer here: when you flood the screen, you should be using a lot more ink, there should be a layer thick enough that you can’t see the image on the screen. all the little fuzzies in your image are “pinholes” which result from having dust on your glass or your transparency when you put the light to it. the place i worked would put the smallest little dabs of a thick glue on the underside of the screen to plug those holes (not sure what kind it was, i was mostly just in the printing side of things and not the making of the screens). hope this helps!
cookiemallet
my brain gremlin wants me to move to a log cabin where i restore antique clocks. that, or just get into linocutting
abi_rose
the anxiety when PJ threw his phone...
lyne
PJ: *says "glass sheet"
Me: I'm in pane.
solblythewood
Hey pj as an art technician I have some suggestions that might be helpful :)
1: the fuzzy edges on your print can be down to either not having clean lines on your print or the contact of the assate was not enough. I tend to use a vacuum seal as it pushes the design as close to the screen as possible when exposing it. And make sure to be gentle when washing the screen so not to lose any details on the design.
2. You don't need to flood the screen, as if you use acrylic paint mixed with printing medium (1:1 ratio) it will clog the screen as it starts to dry. And if you are doing a CMYK print it makes it harder to register the design.
3. Don't pull the squeegee both up and down the screen. Pull it towards you only a few times as pushing it back up the screen can cause it to clog and difficult to clean.
4. If you use wetable parcel type it doesn't damage your screen or remove the emulsion and easily washes off.
I hope that this will help you in your future screen printing adventures :)
Pipchumen
I did this at school ! It’s really amazing seeing the end product
danis.
Watching this back just realised you used ‘when I’m cleaning windows’ when you were actually cleaning the glass - stroke of genius there PJ George Formby would be proud
kierabelson
I made a screen print dragon hoodie in high school. But our process was more old school. It was a bunch of stencils, one for each colour. Which meant each stencil had to be perfectly drawn and cut or else it wouldn't line up. Surprisingly it worked!
ishka
So is the gremlin in my brain the key to all my procrastination, because it always seems to scream "YOUTUBE"
vampirelilicios
Just some tips from a screen printer (working for 3 years in it and studied it in school):
- fuzziness around an image can be related to not having proper contact when burning an image to a screen. Vacuums are commonly used for this purpose within the light table being used. Our shop has an old unit with a vacuum attached to keep contact as close as possible.
- The splatters seem like pinholes. Those can be covered with tape on the non-ink side. Your screen did sit for a week and if any dust got exposed with it, it would have left some dots.
- Don't flood your screen with it down on the paper. It lays down too much ink onto the print.
- You can print full contact - I did it all the time in school - but you risk putting too much ink on the paper so I would always use very little if I printed that way.
- You can make a mock off-contact setup by taping some chipboard or matboard onto the edges of the frame of equal height.
- When flooding a screen, don't change the direction of your squeegee - keep it it the same as when you print. I find that a lot of people we teach make this mistake.
- Red is a very viscous colour so if you don't want to worry about what that does - learn with printing black first. It'll help you troubleshoot technical problems.
- if you plan on reusing the screen, tape off large areas on the ink well side with a proper tape. If you push ink through and tape is on the other side, the ink and tape will mix together and clog the mesh of the screen. This is more of a problem with our finer mesh screens.
Just trying to make this less frustrating for you 👏
Efaya
did anyone else fully expect him to smash the glass?
killerolives
I honestly think it looks really cool with the edges rougher and a little paint splatter. It’s an aesthetic
wannabehuman
I swear PJ the background music made me think my cats were going crazy. Cut to: me sleepily wandering around my house, confused because the cats are nowhere to be found
JustBlowinDandelions
My sister did screen printing in school and I think the lines didn't tern out 100% clean, but that's what I think made it cool and not just any old ink art peace. I loved the video and I thought it was so cool you did it at home, I didn't even know that was possible. As well, this being your first time doing this "WOW" your a natural.
mayalengle
This saga that has unfolded between PJ and his printer is truly riveting. I'm happy to see that it was vanquished to the garbage though!
