Stenciling Revelation

Whilst in the studio the other day I was able to spread out and fully utilise all of the space on the printing table- which was very enjoyable. Setting up a production line doing 3 patterns at once. I was doing the only the top half of my designs to practice and perfect my technique with screen printing. But was still feeling messy and long-winded with the way in which I

was producing my print designs.

(Image of one design printed without the brown ink- the dress shape and sections are not as sharp as I would like)

So I reflected back on my work experience in Milan when I was working with textile designers. I visited factories where I saw print work being produced on mass- I was trying to remember their styles and techniques for developing and layering screen prints. It was all computerized and done by machinery which would explain the perfection- however during my sleep that night it came to me that its solid templates instead of finicky bits of card that are masking taped together that would work.

This morning I spent a few hours creating solid templates- one for my turquoise colour, one for the green, one for the grey and one for the brown. These protect the dress shape and keeps the structure of the stencils solid.

Whilst trialing it this afternoon- the time to print was much quicker only taking me an hour to print one design. And it kept the whole process cleaner and lines crisper. With no residue touching the exterior white silk. I feel Ive found the technique and now I need to create these templates for all of my designs.

Im also starting to embellish on top of some to see how this looks- I hoping it will give them greater depth and texture- as right now Im feeling slightly bored of the pattern and colours.

(Stencils layered up, showing the new stenciling style)

Meticulous Stenciling

A page from my sketchbooks of some designs, I was working on 2nd one in from the left today.

I stenciled my design onto silk/cotton fabric. Its far from perfect- the stenciling screen printing technique needs to seriously mastered. These are the things I can work on to keep it looking flawless:

1. allow the paint to dry before applying my next layer.

2. using double sticky tape to ensure my blocks don't move at all when squigeying the paint through the screen.

3. Being obsessive and concentrating fully

4. Getting 2 people to hold the screen down instead of one as its very large.

5. Ensuring no paint touches the outer fabric

The pattern and use of colour however looks powerful and affective. Which is what i wanted. It almost looks futuristic and the colouring gives a bold modern look. The shaping is flattering to the body which is another ambition I had.

By being clean and meticulous (which is not on my nature) I will be able to achieve the desired flawless clean affect- which is necessary as its 2d dress design shaping on a rectangle fabric- so the purity has to be there. This will be challenge but a necessary one that i need to overcome and refine. In order to perfect my skills I will practice with the top half of the drsesses until its looking good enough to be completed for the final piece.

I was also not very happy with the texture of the ink on the fabric- it went crispy and hard due to to the malutex in the solution- i hoping with steaming and washing with fabric softener this will losen and become fluid silk again.