The benefit of using a stencil is its ability to reproduce the same design many times. Originally, the silkscreen process was developed in the Orient. In the early 1900's, this form of printing gained popularity in America among commercial artists of the 1930's Work Projects Administration.
Silkscreen printing eventually achieved fine art status (among the 4 main printmaking processes: lithography, intaglio, woodblock, and serigraph) in the 50's and 60's when Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Josef Albers created works in this medium.
The process of printing a serigraph. How screenprinting begins.
The process of printing a serigraph begins by building a wooden frame. Finely woven polyester or nylon fabric is stretched tautly over the frame to create the matrix, or ground, on which a stencil design is drawn, painted, or photographically applied. Screens were originally made with silk fabric (thus the name); but this material is far less durable and uniform than a synthetic.
The areas not to be printed are painted out with glue or varnish that will not dissolve in the type of ink (water or oil-base) used. The ink is pushed through the screen by the artist with a squeegee, using practiced effort in applying the exact amount of pressure on each pull. Each color pass requires a separate screen and considerable skill since there must be precise registration in order to align each color with the previous one.
In Eastern Sun Printworks' studio, the design for each card is hand drawn in ink on acetate, creating a photo positive. Each color requires its own positive. The positives are photographically burned onto prepared screens. After washout, all areas of the screen that were covered by the inked positive remain 'open', thus allowing the ink to be pushed through onto the paper substate of the card.
Silkscreened Greeting Cards at Eastern Sun Printworks.
Ink is pulled across the screen with a squeegee, depositing each color (or blend of colors) onto paper stock as many times as is required (usually 3 or 4) for the desired effect. The result is luminous layers of ink, with a multidimensional quality which distinguishes this print medium from all others.
The colors in each print may vary slightly, due to variations in the pull of the squeegee and due to the way the inks mix and pool on the screen. Often, these subtle differences and vivid swirls are a beautiful surprise in the midst of a very repetitive process!
