Paper Screen Printing and Experiments

Last project, my screen designs worked well partly because I spent time deciding which motifs to put on screen and made a plan for each design on Photoshop before printing. I revisited this process, adding in areas to be foiled or flocked, to add texture and depth to my work. By using three screens I worked efficiently in the print room, and was able to quickly produce layered pieces using the nine colours that I mixed to match selected colours from my palette.

Motifs for screen, Right hand side are flock/foil motifs

Plan for Screen: yellow flower shapes are gold foil, red houses are red flock

To bring areas of colour and interest, I experimented with different ways to prepare a ground on paper using acrylic paint. I used textured effects from my initial research as inspiration for this process, and used paintbrushes, a toothbrush, a sponge and rollers to form a variety of marks. This brought a distinct character to my work that had been lacking with some of my digital samples. 

Actual print based on plan (above) pigment, flock and foil detail

Completed screen prints demonstrating pigment, foil and flock techniques

When glueing flock it was difficult to achieve a uniform effect due to the watercolour paper's rough surface, even when using a variety of pulls through the screen, plenty of glue and the correct technique. Although the resulting antiquated look complements most of my motifs and is appropriate for my concept (homely, well worn), I will try the technique on a variety of papers, rough and smooth for Unit X so that I can be selective and optimise each design. I would also like to increase the scale of my work to usual wallpaper dimensions.

After printing, I was inspired by a zested lemon was used in baking a cake; the patterns and ridges made were interesting, so I painted the lemon with acrylic and rolled it across some paper. The marks made are bold and quirky, which fits with the feel of my project, and this could be a useful technique to lay down grounds for future printmaking. These experiments are included with my body of work.