GATHER SUPPLIES

1

The Silk Screen

Aluminum or wood frames coupled with monofilament mesh is the most durable option for a reliable screen.

Vegetable Oil

Any brand will do. This will be used to make the printer paper (with your image) transparent.

Photo Emulsion/Sensitizer

This will be used to burn the image onto the screen from the transparent printer paper.

Bristol Paper

Bristol paper is for excellent screen printing. This paper works well for absorbing ink, as do other textured paper types.

Squeegee

Make sure your squeegee is straight and will dispense pressure evenly when making pulls across the screen.

Silk Screen Ink

For this specific project (printing on Bristol paper), use an Acrylic based screen printing ink.

150 - 250 Watt Bulb

This will be used to burn the image into the screen, so the higher wattage is necessary.

PREPARE IMAGE

2

Add Vegetable Oil

Image to be burned should be printed out with black ink on standard printer paper. Avoid thin lines when creating the artwork, as these may be lost in the burning process.

Vegetable oil should be rubbed onto the image until the white of the paper is a hazy transparency. The emulsion to only pick up the black ink on the paper. Transparency paper also works well.

COAT SCREEN

3

Pour on (Click) Emulsion

The emulsion comes in two parts: the sensitizer and the emulsion. Mix them together according to the directions on the bottle. Pour a little of the emulsion mixture on the screen and spread it out evenly with the squeegee. Be sure the emulsion covers a slightly larger area than the image you want to print. Store mixture in a cool dark place (your fridge).

EXPOSE SCREEN

4

Exposure Process

Allow the emulsion to fully dry in a pitch-black room (a fan is helpful). In the same dark room, lay down a black cloth or board.

Lay down the screen and frame with the flat side up on top of the black surface. Finally, lay the transparency with your image on it (reveresed how it should look) on the screen.

EXPOSE SCREEN

4

Burning Image

Move your lamp so it's about one to two feet above from the screen and turn it on. Leave the room dark (apart from the lamp's light) and allow 1-2 hours burn time

Return to the room and remove the transparency. Wash out the burnt part of the image with a hose or power washer. Use enough water pressure to clear ink from burnt areas, but be careful to not overly blow out the image with exessive pressure.

PRINT

5

Start Printing

Tape off the layer off the image color layer you don’t want to print first (ie. the details in the cat's face).

Pour ink across the top of the screen. Take your squeegee and make one smooth movement down the screen with very light pressure, flooding the image with ink.

Now align your paper, press hard, and pull squeegee again with force.

Gently wash out ink from the screen and repeat this entire process for the second color.