Screen Print #2 Project – THE GIFTING OWL
Hello All! I am back from Vegas and ready to get started on print #2. This will be a two color print Red and Black. I was super impressed by the color halftones that were able to come through with a 230 mesh screen and I am ready to apply what I learned from the first print ‘TRIPPY HORNED SKULL‘. I realize that not everyone is into optical illusions or devil looking skulls and the first print run didn’t sell out, but it did afford me to pick up a few things and get started on the second artwork. I am hoping this new design will appeal to a larger audience and maybe I could get a few more on to people’s walls. This new design will once again challenge me as there is even smaller/finer detail in some of the decorative swirls, so much so that I might have rework the art if it gives me too many problems. On the way home yesterday I dropped off another poster print in the mail and collected two new professionally stretched screens. I am up to two 230 mesh screens and now one 310 mesh screen. Here’s a video of me putting photo emulsion on the screens in my messy kitchen. I will continue to update this ‘Project’ as it progresses. Currently I am waiting for the screens to dry so I can attempt burning the two color layers into the screens. I can then count how many sheets of paper I have left and get going on the first color.
I had another background behind my owl, but I then saw Emek’s owl and found it to be too similar. I then decided to use one of my older zen doodle graphite pieces, and faded it slightly in the background with halftones. I am hoping that the muted background helps the owl and the rose pop off the page a bit more.
I will try to capture pictures and video of my progression on this print, and update this ‘project’ page. The challenges I see on this one is the super tiny detail in some of the red decorative swirls in the wings and lining up the print just right between the two layers of color.
Update: 6-14-18
Happy Father’s Day to all the awesome parents out there! Hope everyone had a relaxing or productive day. I certainly did! Here are video clips I compiled to help illustrate what screen printing entails. I pulled 60 prints of red in case I made any mistakes along the way. Discarded three, but still am going to keep it at a 50 print release keeping the few extras for potential damaged deliveries etc. Overall I am very pleased with this first attempt at a two color alignment print. I think I can feel more confident in overlaying black ink on red and should allow more over bleed next art piece. I am going to take some better pictures get a product listing set up in the next day or two. Stand by…