Starting Out Screen Printing. This is my ongoing process story.

[RONLEWHORN]

Been Itching to get my own setup for a while. I do a lot of vector based illustrated portraits and have only been able to get one professionally printed thus far. RONLEWHORN — Inigo Montoya
It's expensive and even though it turned out amazing, I really wanted that hands-on process and more control and affordability.
A mixture of borrowing some supplies from a friend and buying a rough startup setup, I jumped in head-first a couple weeks ago.



My first piece that I wanted to work with and learn with is an illustration I did about 7 years ago and have been evolving ever since. It just felt right.



Had a rough start as I was working with old, leftover emulsion and a small burn rig.





Bought some new screens and started building my own burning rig.





cut the pvc too long. and rope hanging method wasn't accurate enough. Bought two $10 500watt lamps at lowes. Burn time is about 15 min. at about a foot away. I removed the wire covers before burning as you can see their shadows. I made the mistake of burning the first few tests on this table without black under it. OOPS. Also made the mistake of thinking that if i left emulsion remover on the burned screen longer, it would come off easier. Ruined two of my buddy's screens. It got locked in the mesh. I assume there's no way to fix that right?



Chains and shorter PVC make for a much more accurate hang balance and height consistency. Bought a giant sheet of black foam core for covering the white table.



First test to make sure my finished screens were working correctly. Like a proud father, I was BEAMING for hours after this.



Looking for a solution for drying that would fit in my tiny basement area. This is the first thought I had. In retrospect, it's an EXTREMELY expensive soution. Roughly $30 per shelf after you buy the 12' section and have cut into two 66" shelves at 20" deep and buy the hangers to attach to the wall brackets. And even after a ton invested in them, I still don't have enough space yet. Suggestions?



Getting my tape markers for registration purposes. Just cheap green painters tape cut with like 3 layers.



First color laid down perfectly! Only two out of 56 = "Less Than Perfect"



These all fit because they can overlap.



Prepping second color. Clip light attached to a rafter (*via my wife's suggestion) helped out a lot.


Second color good to go. Had to improvise some hand-cut registration plan from a printoff because I didn't wash out my registration marks.



I didn't take a pic of my third color, but I used acetate print to line up my third color for registration. Worked amazingly. Going to build into designs in the future some way to be able to use this acetate between each color. Still learning.



I couldn't be happier with the result. Out of 56, I ended up with exactly 50 quality prints. Gotta cut them down to 12x19 from the French 13x19 size. Glad they come large because the corners were slightly dented. Will easily cut off though. Any suggestions for cutting 50 prints cheaply, safely and effectively? Was planning on kinkos but I've heard horror stories.



If you're interested in supporting me or just love this sexy BONEANA, I've put them up for sale ///HERE///

More process to come as I build a vacuum table and start a couple gig posters I have in the works. A music festival, and Art Festival and a big-name-band that I can't divulge yet. (*waiting on art approval)

Thanks for reading and any suggestions you might have.

[eyepeace]

Looking for a solution for drying that would fit in my tiny basement area. This is the first thought I had. In retrospect, it's an EXTREMELY expensive soution. Roughly $30 per shelf after you buy the 12' section and have cut into two 66" shelves at 20" deep and buy the hangers to attach to the wall brackets. And even after a ton invested in them, I still don't have enough space yet. Suggestions?.

Lookin good!
Go premium - I think there are plans in the premium section for building your own drying rack.
Oh and figure out your favorite cheese.

[steve w]

awesome and welcome

[mile44]

Nice job ... where in Indy are you?
I'm on the far FAR southside

-D-

[steve w]

uh oh. turf war

[Drozd]

nice print

[mile44]

uh oh. turf war

darn right ... I'm trying to lay claim to all of Indiana's I-65 from Gary to New Albany

not really though ... I need an additional exposure unit when mine craps out during season's change

-D-

[kim_a]

Awesome first-print, nice color combo and kudos on doing a warhol banana-spoof I haven't already seen five times. =p

What ink do you use for the black sheet, thats pretty good coverage?

[RONLEWHORN]

darn right ... I'm trying to lay claim to all of Indiana's I-65 from Gary to New Albany

not really though ... I need an additional exposure unit when mine craps out during season's change

-D-

Hey man. Live by Butler. Met you at Indieana Handicraft. Love your work! Josh from MOKB said he showed you my website a while back RONLEWHORN Cheers!

[RONLEWHORN]

Awesome first-print, nice color combo and kudos on doing a warhol banana-spoof I haven't already seen five times. =p

What ink do you use for the black sheet, thats pretty good coverage?

Heh. It's a dark desaturated brown that is a mix of speedball and Nazdar. Is that a problem to do that? My Yellow was really sticky. What do I use to thin it out and make it more viscous but not more transparent? Retarder? I want it to still dry fairly fast. Thoughts?