Silkscreen Printing for Pen and Ink Artists

In the past couple of posts, I have been describing how I make my drawings.   Here, I will describe how I make my prints.


The artwork that I sell is in the form of hand-printed limited-edition prints which can be seen in shows (tba), at Frog Hollow in Burlington, and through my website (the site is not currently set up for orders, but contact information is available there).  I hand-print each image using a silkscreen, in editions of 200.   This means that only 200 prints are available of each image, and once sold, the edition is closed.  This increases the value of the individual print without requiring me, the artist, to die first.  
I find that this works in my favor, and it also allows more than one person to own a print of a particular drawing.  The piece will have the distinction of being drawn by the artist, printed by the artist, and signed and numbered by the artist.


I am going to describe the process here.  I am often asked how the prints are made and how I can get so much detail using silkscreens to make them.   This post should should answer this question for those interested, and perhaps be an introduction to other artists who might consider silkscreen printing.  It is less a tutorial than a description, and more detailed information and  guidelines can certainly be found elsewhere.


First a brief primer for those who are unfamiliar with silkscreen printing.  A fine mesh screen (imagine a window screen with the mesh so fine you need a magnifying glass to see the openings) is stretched onto a frame.   To make an image, any areas not part of the image (not to be printed) are sealed off.  For example, to print a donut shape, we would seal off all but a large circle, then seal off a smaller circle inside the first one.   This would leave a porous, unsealed portion of the screen in the shape of an O.

The ink used in silkscreen printing is fairly thick, somewhat gelatinous.  When the screen is laid upon a sheet of heavy paper, and ink is scooped out onto the screen’s surface, it doesn’t seep through (as would India Ink or another very fluid ink).   

To produce a print, the thick ink is pressed through the screen onto the paper below by drawing a  a squeegee across the surface of the screen. (The squeegee consists of a long blade of somewhat flexible material (e.g. hard rubber) mounted along the length of a wooden board-like handle).  Once the ink is pressed through the screen, the frame is lifted off the paper, leaving the image.

And now to answer the question, "how do you get a highly detailed ink drawing to a silkscreen?"

Screens may be sealed in a number of ways, including preparing a stencil and attaching it to the screen, or hand-painting on a liquid sealant.   But in our case, we are talking about a photo-emulsion process.

To transfer a detailed pen & ink drawing to a screen,  a light-sensitive gel, or photo-emulsion, is applied (painted on) the screen to seal the entire surface.  It has a much slower exposure rate than traditional photo film or paper so preparation can be done under low light (a yellow bug light will work).  The dried coating is water-soluble (it can be rinsed right off) until exposed to bright light for several minutes.

So the next step is to put your drawing flat against the coated screen, between it and a light source.  If using a light table, you will place your drawing down on the table and place the screen over it.  The light will pass through the paper and expose the screen, but it will be sufficiently blocked by any black lines on the paper.   After the appropiate exposure time (see the instructions on the bottle of photo-emulsion), the screen is rinsed thoroughly with water.     Every tiny line of your drawing will rinse out, leaving the rest of the the screen well-sealed.  Et voila, a detailed print!

For rinsing, I use a shower head on a hose in a utility sink- a bath tub will work as well.


Silkscreening is an economical approach to print-making.  All necessary supplies can be found at your local Art/Craft supply store.


See you at the next posting!