Learning to Print

I have really enjoyed the challenging process of learning to print, and thought I should reflect on my experiences so that the next time I am in the print room I can produce good quality work efficiently.

Learning from the embroidery unit I tried to go with the flow more and not feel interrupted when learning several new things at once. It was difficult, being shown several printing techniques and learning photoshop and illustrator from scratch in the space of a few weeks but I managed to take in the information and focussed on how I could then go on and use it to develop my work.

Working in the print room has taught me many things that will be useful in the future:

use a small squeegee as it makes things a lot easier
wash screens as infrequently as possible
have a plan as to which fabrics to work on and which colours to use
work horizontally in the space rather than vertically (more fabric pieces can be pinned out at once)
it is better to use reactive dye to make backgrounds at the start of a project
think about working in layers rather than one final result
keep everything clean so nothing gets accidentally stained
check surfaces before putting fabric down
always wear an apron and tie back hair
when using white pigment work quickly to get as many good prints as possible from one motif
use 2 screens at once so that no time is wasted
test out dyes on fabric for colour when mixing them
try to book the same table for 2 days in a row to avoid putting a backing cloth down twice
wear waterproof shoes, as they will get water on them in the screen wash room
bring everything you could need with you
mix all your colours before starting to print
have a wide variety of colours, light and dark
book a table far enough in advance; before a deadline it gets busy

For motif development it would have been helpful to see how my motifs all worked together before putting them in to be put onto a screen; I didn't use one of my motifs because it didn't look right next to the others, and so there was wasted space.

To speed up working, I used a heater to dry fabric when appropriate, and covered any almost dry prints with newspaper while I printed the next shape onto fabric. This enabled me to quickly build up layers of colour without contaminating the fabric side of the screen.

Printing has taught me to not be afraid of using bright colours in a bold way; to begin with, prints that I deemed busy were seen as simple by the tutors, and comparing them with my photoshop work I can see why. Although it will always take longer to build up an image by screenprinting, it is worth creating an interesting background and using multiple motifs to make pieces bolder and busier. When I started to do this,  my work became more interesting and exciting.

Digital Print Sample

I chose one of my busier photoshop designs to put forward for digital print. Unfortunately the colours in my original file became distorted, so they no longer match my colour palette. The reds became orange, and generally the other colours are wrong; although the shapes are still well represented, I don't like the final result. In my feedback, the group said that they really liked my digital print, but they did not elaborate on this, so I don't know what they specifically liked about it; shape, colour, texture, mood etc.

The right hand image is closer to the true colours of the design; it is a photograph of a paper print out of the file, so is not perfect in terms of colour representation but is close enough to show the difference. According to Sally this is most likely due to the difference in settings between several computers. This discolouration also happened to other students, so there were no actual mistakes made anywhere in the process. In future I will have to check the colour and monitor settings when switching between computers to ensure consistency when digitally printing samples.

In general (colour aside) the design translated well onto fabric, though some of the sharpness was lost when it came to the linear detail; this could be resolved by either printing the design at a larger scale or using thicker lines in the original photoshop designs. 

Dip Dye

To add some colour to my designs straight away, I tried out the dip dye technique we were shown in the print room. I picked the mid range pink and orange colours from my cake image to try, both in solid colour and with white sections. I was happy with the results, as they are bright and a close match for colour.

I started to layer up images on the dip dye background, which worked well, as the light yellow dye can easily be seen when overlapped with the white streaks. Because of the pink colour of the dip dye, the pigment colours have been altered, becoming darker, but they still fit in with my colour scheme. I might try using mixed white pigment to add brighter images on top to make a bolder statement.

Feedback and Further Screenprinting

Some of the feedback that came up during the Peer Review session highlighted the fact that my screen prints weren't as busy as my digital prints. I had previously seen my screen prints as quite busy, but certainly compared to the digital prints they are more simple as they don't really have a background other than the plain block colour of the fabric. I previously avoided making a patterned or layered background through screen printing as Sally advised me to avoid repeating my motifs to avoid my work looking too ordered. After some input from Theresa, who thought a patterned background or using a gradient of colour would be a good idea, I realised that Sally had meant more that the final result should not look repeated, symmetrical or too grid-like. 

That afternoon in the print room I started to focus on producing an image through a series of layers, as you would in photoshop; working quickly like this this meant that instead of worrying about trying to compose an entire image, I worked in response to the marks I had already laid down; this allowed more spontaneity to creep in, resulting in freer feeling images. Also, in order to make this many marks I had to work quickly; there was no time to make a set plan.

 

I will go back and print on top of these backgrounds so that the final prints are busy, vibrant and have the same exciting feel as my colour stripe image. Trying out different colours and weights of fabrics should help keep the look of this collection fresh and bright while still belonging to the same theme and mood.

 

To get this light yellow colour to show up properly on the red fabric, I had to mix it using white pigment; it stands out a lot more than the very light circles seen at the bottom which were mixed using binder.


For the piece on the left above, I layered 2 pieces of fabric, one sheer blend and one thick cotton, to  produce the same image in different ways. The white of the thick cotton interacts with the colours to make a bold effect, while the sheerness of the blend allows parts of it to be more subtle. Again, these will serve as backgrounds that I can add to later.

Screenprinting

For me the first day in print room was about experimenting with colour and texture, trying to get used to the technique of printing and seeing how my designs looked on fabric and in colour.

I like the patchy feel of the brown shape below, contrasted with the smooth bold look of the other nearby shapes. In the left hand arrangement I tried to not just create a simple repeat pattern by overlapping some shapes and having each set at different angles, but after discussion with Sally this clearly has not gone far enough; each shape could be in a different direction, different colours, and the overall feel of it less ordered.

In the left hand test piece, the layering of the green and brown circles works well, as it creates a sense of space, and the illusion that the green circles are far behind the brown ones. The outlined brown circles on the right are the most interesting to me, as they show different textures in one circle. For the moment though, Sally advises to stick to bold images and concentrate on colour and placement rather than texture, as it is easier to replicate solid colour and it helps to make these samples feel more vibrant. To make my pieces interesting I agree that I need to focus on placement and feel more, and since my initial image has a striking, bold quality, block colour is highly appropriate here.

Photoshop Colour Work

Initially I didn't think I would enjoy using computers to generate images and ideas as they can be used to make overly worked, soul-less pieces. However I now see programmes like Illustrator and Photoshop as tools to enable me to try out ideas quickly, with a colour palette that can be easily referred back to. By avoiding use of pre-set brushes and colours, it is possible to make personalised work, and as long as I'm careful to use it as an aid and not rely on it as a basis for ideas, the results should remain interesting.

Looking at colour, I made more suitable colour stripes that really helped me to focus on the predominant colours in my image. Also, gradients helped to split up the colours and made me less afraid to be bold. I selected images that hadn't been put on to screen to use to make custom brushes, and played around with scale to liven up my work.

The right hand image here  is an early test of how gradients alter perception of colour and what the colours look like when placed next to each other in different shapes.

I began to experiment with layering up different colours, while trying to retain accurate proportions when compared with my cake photograph. This created more exciting and busy effects, which still have delicate features but are bold and eye catching. 

    

Colour Stripes

Looking back through photographs I had taken in the past, the 2 most striking ones were of a peacock at Heaton Park and cake from a Sydney bakery. Both have bold colour, but opposite moods. I decided to use the cake, as it shows a wider colour range and felt more exciting.

 

I enjoy mixing paint, and feel that I can create the tones needed to match a photograph, so from a colour point of view my stripes fulfil their purpose. However, Sally pointed out during a tutorial that another prupose of them was to see how blocks of colour sit next to each other; my stripes emulated the original ones I made before christmas as an exercise, and although they are detailed and proportional in terms of colour are dispersed and thin. So the photograph actually provides a better frame of reference for colour proportion. In future I will focus on the different purposes the stripe will have and create it accordingly.