Ink options for canvas? Need air dry, opaque, slow dry

[colin72]

Hey guys


I'm an artist and want to use some screen printed images in my paintings. I have not done screen printing in the past but recently bought supplies, successfully burned screens, etc.

My problem is that I don't know what ink to use. I thought I might be able to get away with using acrylic paint but it dries too fast and clogs the screens. There are products to slow the drying time of acrylic paint but I'd like to know if there are other options.

I need something that air dries (does not need to be heat set), is opaque, a decent selection of colors, and has a reasonable drying time so I don't have to rush to clean the screens. Also, I don't need anything that is super high quality and expensive.

I've searched around online and found stuff that either needs heat set, has transparency, or says it dries quickly.



Thanks in advance for your advice
colin72



I'll try posting some pics of paintings I've done in case my description above of what I'm trying to do is confusing. The pics are paintings on stretched canvas. I currently use stencils to create some images in my work but most elements are hand painted. I think you'll be able to see that a lot of the imagery and patterns I use could be easily done with screen printing.

[squeegeethree]

Any of the acrylic inks will work. If things are drying too fast the buy some retarder. Try getting some System 3 Acrylic Printing Medium and System 3 acrylic paints made by Daler Rowney. They have 83 colors to choose from and they dry at a nice working pace. I think they are available at Dick Blick and they will suit your style well. You add up to 50% of their system3 acrylic paints to the system3 sprinting medium.

[squeegeethree]

You can buy the base here.
https://store.opusframing.com/sagro/...&product=14380

Here is the Daler Rowney site 9bottom of page). I really like their colors
Acrylic Mediums | Daler Rowney

[Andymac]

nothin in the USA? We call them 'Hopeless' up here - Opus is what happens when you hire nothing but art school grads.

maybe the guy should try some WB fabric inks, they stay open really well.

I'm also thinking, if this is your 'first time screenprinting' you might have bought some shitty screens/squeegee/etc and are taking 5 minutes between prints, and not clearing the screen properly between prints - inks only go so far to curing printing problems.

[colin72]

maybe the guy should try some WB fabric inks, they stay open really well.

Do fabric inks have to be heat set? Because I'll be doing layering and putting screen printed images over things painted with acrylic paint and working over screen printed images with acrylic paint, I need to screen print with something that air dries and is opaque.

I'm also thinking, if this is your 'first time screenprinting' you might have bought some shitty screens/squeegee/etc and are taking 5 minutes between prints, and not clearing the screen properly between prints - inks only go so far to curing printing problems.

Actually I have good screens, etc. I bought my stuff from Ryonet. When I tried printing one color with acrylic paint, I knew it would dry quickly and tried washing my screen and squeegee no more than a minute or two after I printed.

[PedalPrinting]

Speedball Acrylic is always easy to work with, just add water when it starts drying too fast....

[ben swift]

you can get Versatex "screen life" and mix it into the acrylic printing ink, that will give you a little more time in the screen but doesn't really effect the print drying time that much... or just more experimenting.

are you worried more about print quality, opaqueness or ruining screens? there are probably different solutions too all 3 problems...

[Andymac]

sorry, i misread your post....start with some acrylic screen ink - Speedball will work and bond with your other acrylics, it's easy, cheap, and available at art stores nearby.
SP Waterbase fabric ink stays open longer and will probably bond ok, it airdries, you don't have to cure it if you are not washing your paintings...
Generally, you need to be pulling prints a couple of times a minute to keep the ink from drying in. If you try to use regular paint, it's even faster. WB Fabric inks stay open a bit longer.
If you are just doing one off prints then cleaning the screen, spray it immediately after the print with a spritzer of water with some dish soap or 409 cleaner mixed in, this stops the ink from setting, while it is moist, you can still clean it easy. Let it start to harden and dry, you are fckt.

[squeegeethree]

I still stand by my recommendation for you to try the Daler Rowney print medium. It is just as easy to use as speedball but with more choices for colors. I'll add that I print on canvas everyday. If you are trying to print large images then you will want some help pulling the squeegee as it requires some force to get into the canvas weave. Try picking the smoothest canvas possible.