Do I need a squeegee or can I just rub the paint around with my hands?

[epicproblems]

Alright, this thread is going to chronicle my first steps into screen printing. I've been lurking around these forums for a very long time and I feel like I have a decent idea of what sets you guys off (look, I'm premium!), but I'm still a little scared of Zach Hobbs.

So I've been trying to draw things and make posters for almost a year now (I've always been a musician and not a visual artist), and it's finally time to print something myself. I've done a few posters recently for Henry Owings (Chunklet) so when I saw that The Olivia Tremor Control was reuniting for some shows, I asked him if I could do it. He was like "Fine, whatever, I'll buy the paper". I've been a fan of this band since high school by the way (the musical explosion at 2:54 of "I Have Been Floated" has long been one of my favorite song moments ever).

I'll probably begin printing over the weekend. I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of how this all works, but I know there will be a lot of trial and error and I'm fairly well prepared mentally for things to go wrong. Aside from Andy's fantastic book and the wealth of information in these forums, Justin Santora (nicest guy ever) has been immensely helpful in clarifying things and helping me make sure I don't buy the wrong stuff (which happened all the time when I built a bike a few years ago).

Some pics...

Massive drafting table I found on craigslist for cheap (with inks for this poster on it, as well as some choice books). I'm happy to have something that won't kill my back to print on. I'm not sure if the ability to tilt the tabletop will come in use, but if it does, I can.



Inks up close.



Exposure unit put together with a keyboard stand.



Almost finished poster design.



Thanks for reading! Any advice is welcome. I'll post updates as I print.

[Kotah]

Nice poster!

[jayryan]

sorry about henry. other than that, you're off to a good start.

[epicproblems]

Thanks guys! I was joking about Henry's comment Jay, he's excited about the poster for sure.

[ricv64]

dig the poster design . hope it turns out well

[jayryan]

no, i'm still sorry about henry.

[epicproblems]

Ah yes, of course, you've worked with him before...

[SkatRadioh]

Looks like you're off to really good start. The poster looks excellent too. Hope you can get your pulls consistent while registering four colors for your first print.

[40ozGraphics]

Trap wisely. Those fill areas on the flower and the snail would give me trouble. Nice illustration though.

[boatdreams]

Looking rad so far!