Some Assembly Required, Too

This is probably where I should tell you that I’m not a Doctor, and I don’t play one on TV;  proceed at your own risk and all that jazz. Just don’t do anything stupid, like drink something not intended to be imbibed.

Ok, Speedball Drawing Fluid and Screen Filler. I’m not linking sources on these because there are tons of places to get it, even Amazon. Just G00gle it. Here we go…

This reminds me of when I made a Crazy Quilt for my very first ever quilt. Brilliant. Since heaven forbid I start with something simple, I started with a Photoshopped image that began life as a ceiling rondel from a cathedral in England. I’ll be damned if I can remember which one, though.

I mounted the piece of sheer fabric inside a quick-load screenprinting frame. I put the paper on the work surface, and roughly painted the image on the back* of the screen. The key here was keeping the same perspective while working since the design was an inch+ below the screen. I even duplicated the “oops” looking dots and the spots where black was missing in some ‘petals’ of the flower. I clearly don’t like things too perfect or symmetrical.

Sure, I could have taped the paper to the screen and or laid the screen over it upside-down and traced the design onto the fabric with a pencil to make it easier. Clearly, I wasn’t interested in exerting that extra five minutes. I started to, actually, and decided after the first ‘petal’ that I simply didn’t care that much because it was the general idea that mattered. I doubt you would want to tape the design to the screen and leave it there – it might pull the fluid through or let it bleed where you don’t want it. Or, it might be great. I didn’t try it. YMMV.

I used an inexpensive #5 round paintbrush. Don’t overload your brush. You don’t want to put it on so heavy that you have globs dripping through, which can be tough at first. You also don’t want to put it on so thin that it doesn’t really fill the fabric openings properly (unless you WANT that effect). The Drawing Fluid is thick enough that you can push the fluid with the tip of the brush though, which gives you some additional control for small places and edges and the like. In essence, this is a balancing act of having the drawing fluid both fill the fabric openings and also still sit on top of the threads of the fabric itself. Or, I could be obsessing. Wash out your brush with warm, soapy water as soon as you finish.

In a perfect world, you aren’t doing this on a cold or humid day. That said, you can totally do this part inside – either way have a protected work surface. It doesn’t have much of a smell, and I’m very sensitive to such things – doesn’t bother me a bit. Don’t let the cats get into it, you know, just on principle.

Put this somewhere FLAT to dry. If you think it will drip, put a piece of fabric or paper under it. Preferably in the sun, but not if leaves & bits are going to fall onto it, etc. If you have the fabric in a hoop, don’t let loose edges blow onto the painted area. It will piss you off, but it isn’t a project killer. You can still rinse all of the drawing fluid off with water even if it is dry.

Go do something else. Don’t watch it, don’t touch it to test it, and don’t fuss with it. When it is dry, it will still be shiny and look a little wet in places even after hours in the Texas sun. It’s just trying to mess with your head.

This was the first time I’d ever used the screen filler, but my Mom had done some testing on little pieces of sheer in hoops the day before. I spooned some on to flood the screen* and use the squeegee to move it around, but it dripped through in numerous places. It worked its way onto the back of the drawing fluid areas in some spots. Again, this went much better on tighter weave screen fabric – but I’ve also painted it on with foam brushes. You can make it work perfectly well as long as your drawing fluid lines are not overly thin (in width or in coverage). Don’t paint over the drawing fluid too many times or let too much filler sit on top of it – makes it hard to wash away.

I didn’t take a picture of this image at this stage, so this will have to do…

Again: put this somewhere FLAT to dry. If you think it will drip, put a piece of fabric or paper under it. Preferably in the sun, but not if leaves & bits are going to fall onto it, etc. If you have the fabric in a hoop, don’t let loose edges blow onto the painted area. It will piss you off, but it isn’t a project killer. You can touch it up again later. The screen filler will be completely matte in appearance when dry.

Once the screen filler is well and truly dry, use COLD water to wash out the blue drawing fluid. This can take a long time if the drawing fluid is too thick. Use a toothbrush to help. It is best to focus the water only on the areas with drawing fluid – and if you let it get good and wet it is easier to scrub off. Also, you can wet it from the inside* of the screen frame to help. Be gentle, but not tentative. Sometimes it helps to support from inside with your fingers while scrubbing with the toothbrush.

Once all of the drawing fluid is rinsed out, put this somewhere and let it dry completely – until the screen filler is once again completely matte and there are no damp spots. Don’t fall for it when you think you can just wipe this out and test it with a single printing. Just Say No.

Once it is well and truly dry, START PRINTING! I use fabric paints and thickened dyes. If you use paints, be SURE to rinse it out completely as soon as you stop printing.

If you refuse to wait until it is really dry/cured, the screen filler will come off – both during printing and when rinsing the screen after printing. Still, this is not a project killer. You can touch it up with more screen filler and a paint brush, or touch it up with another filler product. I have since touched this screen up several times using Polyacrylic and a #5 paintbrush.

This is the ‘regular’ screen that worked really well with flooding of the screen filler…

Printed twice, offset… 

Another quick and easy one follows, on an old screen with plenty of ghosting:

I used a foam roller to load the drawing fluid onto a stamp I created. Because pushing the really large stamp onto the back of the screen didn’t get proper contact, I flipped the whole thing upside down – stamp on the work table fluid up, put the back of the screen against it, and pressed down with the roller brush from the inside of the screen frame. I got the very light, scattered coverage of drawing fluid that I was after.

The screen, after fill and washout:

Screen detail: (you can see stains from previous designs)

Print:

Stamp I used, made from glued together layers of puff-embroidery foam cut into shapes and glued to a board. Why I had this foam, I have no idea.

Next round: checking out the alternatives!

Look, if you want a really-really fine line… or you want to replicate a really complex image with lots of delicate details… or your time is worth more than your cash at the moment- just get a thermofax made of your image. I’m in love with the damn things and have a folder full of images ready to be turned into them.

If not, you still have oodles of options to just make your own screen. In an effort to prevent others from having to test so many things (which is in no way at all an effort to avoid making actual art), I have bought and tested a variety of goops and goos. All for you! See how helpful I am?

Now, I can admittedly be both cheap and lazy when it comes to certain things (which are not always mutually exclusive), but sometimes having a good day in the studio requires a little more of one or the other. Making a mess is also its own reward, you know.

There are several tutorials out there about using Speedball’s Screen Drawing Fluid and Screen Filler to make a screenprinting image. This is one of my favorites. I like the cute little owl! There are also some about using modge podge and a host of other products. Some folks use curtain sheer fabric, others use pantyhose. If you are making simple silhouettes, you can use tape, paper, contact paper, freezer paper, and many more.

My problem is that I like line art. I like fine lines. I’m not saying they have to be smooth or even or perfect or straight or anything like that. But I desperately need to be able to just draw the damn things. I can’t always successfully paint only the ‘negative’ – which is what the modge podge tutorials require. Painting freehand directly on fabric with dye or paint isn’t my strong suit just yet either, if I want any level of precision (much less confidence). Hell, I can’t get a decent line on stretched canvas at the easel unless I’m using a knife, so forget curves.

Therein lies the advantage of the blue Screen Drawing Fluid. You paint that onto the screen (I’m using cheap curtain sheers from the dollar store and a variety of other places – in embroidery hoops – as well as some of my ‘good’ framed screens) to protect the positive image where you will eventually want the dye/paint to go through.

Obviously, it’s designed to work best with its buddy, Screen Filler.

Screen Filler is a red, slightly granular fluid that seals in the other areas of the screen. Once dry*, you use COLD water to wash out the drawing fluid and whatever filler went over it. Voila.

I started looking for some alternatives & substitutions for one or both of the Speedball products (available at most craft stores, art supply houses, and online) – because you never know when the urge might strike in the midnight hour when you aren’t prepared!

Screen Filler works great on the really fine mesh of a quality, framed screen such as a 12xx. It floats across with the squeegee nicely, doesn’t puddle or drip through, and doesn’t bleed back behind fine lines of drawing fluid too terribly.

On the cheap sheers, though, not so much – the weave isn’t tight enough. It’s really tough to make a fine line work not matter how much tension the sheer is under – it just ends up behind the drawing fluid. The filler itself is not what some would consider cheap, either. It depends on how you work, and to each his/her own. No skin off my nose- I love it in the right circumstances, and broke down and bought the 32oz bottle once I knew how much I was going to use it.

I’ve learned some good (thankfully not painful) lessons and details that I want to share. The nice part is, I already had most of the goodies in the studio.

What we’ll be reviewing for now (I may keep procrastinating testing):

For drawing the positive image: drawing fluid, elmer’s glue gel, cold wax pen (wax emulsion), SilkPaint resist (had some in a drawer- no clue why). I have a bottle of Inkodye resist that I haven’t tried yet.

For filling up the negative space: screen filler, Polyacrylic sealant, Gloss Gel, String Gel (because I had some), and Lamination Glue.

Side Note: Yes, one day I saw the ad on TV for the spray-rubber-sealant-gutter crap and thought, “Damn, how easy would it be to put a contact paper design on a screen and spray the negative area with that and voila, a permanent screen!” Well, let me tell you this: (a) it’s horribly stinky, even outside – so much so that I suggest putting a cartridge mask on if you ever find yourself having to use a screen door for the bottom of a boat; (b) it took several coats to get rid of the pinholes, and by then it was too thick to really work well. If I ever decide to try it again (since I have the stupid can of it) I would probably try spraying it and then using a foam brush (?) to smooth it out a little better. That would call for some serious unavailability of other fun things to do, though. Anyway- I will show you what happened, etc.

Next up: photos and detailed lessons learned with the “real deal” products from Speedball.

I have no idea if this means it will be even more quiet around here… or if eventually it will mean a little more regular posting…

…but I’m here to tell you that I’m busily working away as part of the 2013 class in Jane Dunnewold’s Surface Design Mastery program.

So if I seem quiet- know that it’s only on the outside. Inside, there’s a whole lotta working going on!

-k

Please go peruse over here and let me know what you think. I’m trying to pair some things together for a wall piece. No clue where I’m going yet, but I was pondering how many players needed to be on stage.

Sample:

Here is just one of several great examples I have in my studio of Why Samples Are Important.

This is a (mixed) MX dye from Dharma called Wasabi. It called my name. They were having a sale. Move along.

You will note an extensive variation of colors on this page. Upper right is a ‘dry powder’ sample to see what is in the blend. Upper left is the ‘medium’ set of swatches in cotton, linen, and rayon (L to R). Lower left is the dark samples, Lower right is the lightest samples (cotton, linen, and rayon – L to R).

Amazing, isn’t it. Same dye. Same batch. Same day. Each set (light, med, dk) were all in one container – which I also learned on some colors can cause a problem in and of itself. Apparently some fabrics will steal all or most of certain pigments faster than the other fabrics. Honestly, like we needed more variables in this game.

Anyway- I have this for everything I have. It is a tremendous reference and fantastic eye candy when I just flip through it for inspiration.