First tea towel for sale

Got the first listing put up onto the 'ol Etsy site. Excitiiiing.

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Tea towel screen printing experiment

Well, it's been a long time coming but it's finally assembled. It's taken a couple months to get the space set up for this experiment and a very patient partner in crime who helped build and rig bits of our little diy screen print 'studio'. I have to say, though, all the setup was worth it! I am so excited, the print actually worked. Definitely more than I was hoping for on a first attempt. I had no idea how the fine lines of the illustration would register, so I was incredibly happy when I saw that all of the skinny little lines printed. Hopefully this first test wasn't just a beginners luck fluke and the next attempts will go as smoothly.

My hope is to get a nice line of tea towels created so that I can offer them on my etsy site, but I've got more experimenting to do before that happens. I'll be sure to post when the set is ready.

(You can see more of the process on my flickr set here)

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An Experiment in Screen Printing

After consulting a screen printing friend and doing a bit of research on the web, mainly the gigposters.com forums, I'm finally getting serious about putting together a little DIY screen print setup. Of course the middle of February in Indiana is just about THE WORST time to try and create this makeshift studio in the back of my unheated garage but slowly, slowly it's coming together. I've got a slew of new projects in the works, just waiting to be printed. First priority of the moment is to hang up some visqueen to make myself a smaller space to heat with the little space heaters I own.

Here's a sneak peek at our construction of a little vacuum table. Huge thanks to Alex for putting in so much time and effort to get these items built. Another huge thanks to Aaron over at RONLEWHORN for answering all of my random questions as I attempt to get things up and running. This has been no solo act, that's for sure.

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Let's Roll Some Ink

The victorian house linocut I carved has been whispering my name from the inside of a drawer for the past few weeks.

"Ink me." it said. "I know the suspense is killing you. Don't you care to see if I can print at all? Is orange the color for me, or maybe a pretty light blue? What about a little fun with pen, or watercolor backgrounds? How would I look on a colored paper, or the page of an old book? Come on, just take a moment and check me out. There are so many possibilities, and I know you're just dying to play."

But I had too much going on. You know how it gets. And as a result of a busy life, fun little projects that I barely make time for in the first place get pushed back, back, back, unfinished, but never quite forgotten. It just sits in the back of my mind on this limbo land to-do list taking up space in my brain. Truth be told, if it wasn't for my lunch hour it never would have been carved in the first place, so I knew it would take an effort to make the time to print it. There was a tiny play kitchen to be made and a first birthday party to plan, though, which seemed to spend every spare moment I could make.

Then finally came the day that I decided, the effort must be made. A Wednesday night when the day was less than ideal and I just needed a win. I needed something personal and just for fun. It was 10 before I could get to it, but I had finished all that needed to be done and was finally able to say to that whisper in the drawer, "Ok, ok, you win. It's time. This moment has been made for you, and for me. Let's roll some ink".

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The Results Are In!

My first attempt at printing with the gocco DEFINITELY didn't turn out as perfectly as I'd imagined it would, but isn't that the way with most first attempts? I set out to produce a set of prints to send out as Christmas cards and the experiment was full of lessons learned and questions I need to ask. Even though the prints didn't turn out as beautifully as I'd hoped they would, it was still fun to make. Here's a quick look at my process and my result.

First, I sketched up the initial design, scanned it in, then cleaned it up and played with colors in the computer. After a bit of playing, I finally ended up with this.I wish we had one of those little guys to take care of our shoveling for us! Least he has friends to make the work more fun.

Next I split the colors into 3 separate black and white compositions to use to burn the screens for the 3 different colors I wanted to print. I needed to take the compositions and have them printed on the laserjet printers at Kinkos because I needed carbon in the ink. Laserjet prints contain carbon, but my home inkjet printer does not. The first printout is what I used to burn the screen for the light blue color, the second for the light green, and the third to burn the screen for the dark green. I wasn't sure if there was too much detail in my illustration or not, so I was very curious to see if the detail of the shingles and the texture on the wall of the house would show up. I was pretty impressed by the results.

Insert blue filter then screen. The blue filter keeps the print from fusing to the screen when you burn it.Screw bulbs into housing then fit into top of the unit.Press down firmly on the front of the unit which will cause bulbs to flash and burn the screen. (I added a little flare to this photo for fun, cheesy I know, but hey this photo just didn't do the flash bulbing step justice)Here's a closeup of the middle screen. Check out the detail of the thin windowpanes and the ironwork. Pretty cool that the mesh is fine enough to pick all that up.

Once the screens were all burned it was time to print. I didn't have the color blue that I wanted, so I decided to mix my own. First lesson, I should have started with white, then added the blue. It was impossible to get it light enough once I had all that blue on my screen. Even after I printed all of my papers I still had TONS of ink left on the screen. All the ink was good for a nice even print though.Once you ink the screen, you lower the plastic sheet attached to the screen and fit the screen back into the unit facing the same way as when you burned it originally. Next step, place your paper on the rubber base, lower the lid and press. Then just lift the lid, the paper will stick to the screen, then you just peel it down gently and admire your print!
So, the colors couldn't really be further from what I'd originally envisioned. I decided to just roll with it though and deal with the brightness. Honestly, I dont mind the saturation, that crazy fluorescent green is kinda fun. I think if the blue was just a bit lighter and the dark green just a bit darker I would have been more ok with the overall look of the print.

I also learned that registering 3 colors with this model gocco is super difficult. Lots of mess-ups for sure.

The final point of frustration I had was knowing how much ink to flood the screen with. It seems to vary from color to color. I dont know if maybe the inks I have are different ages or if it has something to do with the pigment, but the dark green gave me ALL SORTS of agitation. Whenever I'd peel it off the screen I'd end up with certain areas with a heavier ink buildup than others. I was running low on the dark green ink, so I wasn't quite as generous with it as I was with the other two colors, and I wonder if that might be the culprit? If anyone has had similar experience with this kind of trouble, please share! Once I ran out I threw some black ink on the screen and it didn't give me that trouble... or maybe it did, but wasn't as noticeable because black is more opaque.

Does anyone have any tips on cleaning the screens? It seems impossible!

Overall, the experience was fun, and I cant WAIT to get more supplies for another project. I'm still unsure if I want to send these prints out as Christmas cards, or if I should just get the original illustration printed at kinkos or something to send out. I feel like the quality of this first run isn't necessarily what I want it to be to share with others, but then again is part of the charm in it's flaws? You can CERTAINLY tell they're hand-made. I'll have to live with them a bit longer to make my final decision.

So that's my first gocco experience in a nutshell! Hopefully there will be more to come.PS: I'd also recommend having furry helpers near by to give second opinions on the prints. Mylo was super helpful, especially when he laid on my feet to keep them extra warm.

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Printing with the Gocco!!!

Oh Gocco! I knew we'd be a good fit together. Why did I discover you so late?!!!

I've been having so much fun playing with my new toy! After finally finishing a 3 color print design for our Christmas cards this year I've begun the printing process. I don't want to give too much away til it's finished. I just wanted to share a quick progress shot that Alex took.

This thing the Gocco and I have, it's love. So simple, such quality. I'm desperate to continue our love affair! Why has Riso stopped making supplies?! If anyone out there knows of alternative gocco supplies PLEASE let me know. If not, maybe you knows of a similar printing setup that ISN'T going extinct. That would be great too.

I guess the only thing to do, for now, is just to enjoy the time I have left with my beloved Gocco.

I cant wait to see how this first print project turns out with all 3 inks! I'll post when they're finished.

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Oh Gocco!

This little device is the raddest thing I've seen in a long time! I've been lusting after it lately and imagining all the cool stuff I could do with it. It's not sold here in the US anymore, so it's become a rare-ish sort of item in these parts. How sad that something THIS fun should be largely unavailable to the general art loving public here in the US. Some day, hopefully, some lucky owner of a Gocco will tire of it's charms, or perhaps upgrade to one of the larger units leaving it available and in search of a new loving home. Some day...

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