Test Screen Prints

Once I learned the process of screen printing I went on to test the activity and made a vast quantity of test prints. I made two A3 positives that would then be transferred to a screen with a number of images I wanted to test. I could then ascertain if the detail was too fine due to the high number of pixels in the images.

The screen printed perfectly at first but then some interested things started to happen when I struggled to mange the application of ink on the screen. There was a build up of too much ink and I had also forgotten to flood the screen; this was all part of getting used to the activity of screen printing. What was telling to observe was how the perfectness of the screen and thus the print could be disrupted and manipulated where I could leave remnants of ink on the underside of the screen and apply more or less pressure,  thus controlling how much ink would push through the screen. The blemishes and ghost marks are very interesting and make for something quite unique. I continued to test printing these images using a yellow window and red stencil I had printed previously on my screen printing induction. I wanted to reuse these surfaces and see how the above images interacted. I tested an array of materials - maps, plastic, acetate, cartridge paper, newsprint, cardboard and glossy paper. Below are a number of the experiments.