Alternate way to produce film positives.

[goodnightsweetprints]

Never admit to shopping at Wal-Mart.

[boatdreams]

Inkjet transparencies are cheap, but plain ol' plastic shouldn't be. Has anyone come up with a good source for cheap plastic sheets that'd be good for drawing on?

Picked up a black paint marker at Wal-Mart last night, and it's as opaque as molasses. Why hadn't I thought of this before?

Try getting large sheets of Duralar (Blick sells them). They're great to draw on and really receptive to film pens.

[ittybittypress]

We use this film: Rolls of Water Resistant Film - Film Direct

This is the same film we use when we print positives from the computer, so it has the nice bonus of being the only kind of film we need, AND we can print registration/trim marks on it before we draw. It looks like the rolls of Duralar from Blick are cheaper though, I may have to try that.

[almighty5]

Try getting large sheets of Duralar (Blick sells them). They're great to draw on and really receptive to film pens.

is this the film you're referring too?;

Grafix Dura-Lar Wet Media Film - BLICK art materials

at $2.50 a sheet for a 19"x24" plus the work it takes to hand-draw on it, it seems like there would be better prices with other alternatives.

is this the cheapest we could expect to pay per color sep, or is there a different, cheaper, mylar or plastic that we could use?

[edwardo_machino]

After producing positives for years with a computer I forced myself to draw. Something completely different. I usually trace a sketch but inevitably make changes to the positive in process. If you cut out an area and want to draw again, tape another piece of plastic over the hole with clear tape.

If you use a setup that produces heat, let the ink harden awhile before exposing otherwise some of it may lift off acetate and stick to the screen and you'll have to touch up the positive.

[jonkeefe]

After producing positives for years with a computer I forced myself to draw. Something completely different. I usually trace a sketch but inevitably make changes to the positive in process. If you cut out an area and want to draw again, tape another piece of plastic over the hole with clear tape.

If you use a setup that produces heat, let the ink harden awhile before exposing otherwise some of it may lift off acetate and stick to the screen and you'll have to touch up the positive.

Awesome! I've noticed those magnum Sharpies around lately, and wondered what sort of opacity they had. As mentioned earlier, regular Sharpies aren't opaque at all.

I might give this stuff a try -- .005" polyester film, $33cad for a 40"x25' roll! Now THAT'S economical!

https://www.currys.com/catalogpc.htm...FILM&NBReset=2

[Josh Rickun]

AND we can print registration/trim marks on it before we draw.

that's a slick lil trick im a have to try

[almighty5]

Awesome! I've noticed those magnum Sharpies around lately, and wondered what sort of opacity they had. As mentioned earlier, regular Sharpies aren't opaque at all.

I might give this stuff a try -- .005" polyester film, $33cad for a 40"x25' roll! Now THAT'S economical!

https://www.currys.com/catalogpc.htm...FILM&NBReset=2

Thanks for the link. I started looking around online and found it cheaper on dickblick.com. If you are from canada then it might be cheaper to just get it from currys.

Let us know how it works if you give this roll a try.

[weaponsofmassdesign]

I just picked some paint markers up from blick the other day because of this thread. Thanks! I'll have to post results I think I might make an art print or two before SXSW with these. Makes sense to me if I'm already buying/have the inkjet film to just use a few sheets of that.

[squeegeethree]

We have luck drawing with the paint pens on Ruby as well which is nice as you can get all you big areas of fill color out of the way with the ruby and have nice line work to boot.