The FNG thinks he can print, eh?

[squeegeethree]

Good work. Man those speedball screens are cheap.

[mikeage]

Am I the only one that had to google fng?
Man, I'm older than I thought...or just more out of it.

[u6crash]

Got the screen filler in. It didn't go very well. My instructions say to spoon it on and distribute it with the squeegee. It also says that this should be done in one pass because it may otherwise wash out the drawing fluid prematurely. Well, it didn't spoon on very well because in an even consistency it isn't terribly thick. I gave it a shot anyway and had to go over it in more than one pass. I then brushed some on (which I presume is okay because there are instructions on using the screen filler with a brush when making a negative). If the problems had stopped here, I might have been fine.


It's almost like I went out of my way to follow directions here. I failed to put the screen on a truly level surface to dry. The screen filler was heavy at the top, dripped through, then clung to the screen and dripped down the bottom side, blocking the back side of the drawing (up near the horns).


So now I am paying the price and starting over. It occurred to be briefly that I might just be able to clean the problem areas and brush screen filler on as necessary, but I think I should get this right. Luckily we have a pressure washer here at the moment, but it's getting late and might have to wait until morning.

[steve w]

clean the problem areas and brush screen filler on as necessary

[u6crash]

And...I'm out. At least until I order some new supplies.

Tried a couple different things here. First I tried to do as Steve suggested and clean the problem areas and brush on screen filler as necessary. When I was satisfied that the areas were clean enough I went at it with the screen filler where I encountered two problems. The first being that though I hadn't cleaned all the screen filler out, there were still pin holes all over the thing and the edges of the figure had really lost any definition. Basically I would have been not creating an entire negative with screen filler and it seemed more trouble than it was worth since I was going to have to learn how to clean the screen anyway for my other two colors.

My instructions said I could use liquid dish detergent or Mr. Clean with hot water, scrub it, let it soak, etc. No dice. I Googled other methods (which returned a good discussion on the topic from this message board) and there were a couple things most contributors agreed upon:

1) Use a pressure washer
2) Never use Speedball screen filler

As luck would have it, there is a pressure washer here at the house for now so I had a go at it today. I started pretty far away which didn't seem to put a dent in the screen filler. I got closer and eventually messed up the screen.


So it looks like I'm done until I get some more supplies. I live out in the sticks right now and will have to order from somewhere. Usually it's Dick Blick for me because that's what I know and they have a distributor in state so it's quick, but I might try Pearl and see if I can apply my CAC card for a discount with a phone or internet order. I'll take other suggestions too. I might just wait to place an order until after I receive Andy MacDougall's book which I ordered on Saturday.

Anyway, thanks for watching. I'll try and post updates when I have them. The learning curve hasn't scared me away yet.

[alexfugazi]

Oooff...Speedball must hate people. I actually started using one of those kits 9 years ago, and quickly stopped doing any screenprinting until recently. Photoemulsion is WAAAAAAYYYYY easier than what you're doing. But it does require you get films, etc, and it sounds like you'll have to wait to lay your hands on some. And man, I was at Jerry's Art-A-Rama today and was blown away by how loose Speedball's screens are, even new.

[DenisMutter]

I concur - photo emulsion sounds a lot scarier than it actually is.

Check out andymac's book - available in the classifieds, I think, and take Steve's class - seriously - worth the drive from what I've heard & the man knows his salt & he's a good egg.

[u6crash]

Originally Posted by DenisMutter

I concur - photo emulsion sounds a lot scarier than it actually is.

Check out andymac's book - available in the classifieds, I think, and take Steve's class - seriously - worth the drive from what I've heard & the man knows his salt & he's a good egg.

I'm still planning to take Steve's class, but I'm waiting until after the 15th when I'll officially be living in Chicago. Also, I ordered the book on Saturday, so I have that to look forward to.

[Andymac]

I wouldn't buy anything more until you get to Steve's.

art supply stuff is mostly crap.

Speedball is going to start improving their shit. the boss there read my book and gave me a call. they know they need to step it up. We'll see how that goes.

meanwhile.....maybe just rip the mesh off and get some more and try restretching if that crap won't come out. That cord in groove is easy. shitty. but easy. I have old screens from when I used to do that. I keep them around to scare students straight.

[ImJustRickG]

Be forewarned that Steve is very mean.

At least to me.