Author: handprinted

We were really excited to hear that Print Club London were bringing out a book on screen printing. ‘Screen Printing: The Ultimate Studio Guide from Sketchbook
to Squeegee’ is a complete screen printing manual that covers everything from designing, through a huge variety of screen printing techniques to setting
up an exhibition. Each chapter focuses on a different printmaker and gives a step by step guide to one of their signature techniques. We’re giving
one copy away to our lucky winner at the beginning of the new year – click here to enter!
This competition closes on the 31st December. 

For a chance to win a copy, enter here. 

 

I am Sophie Mutter a printmaker living in Worthing. After graduating from a photography degree at Nottingham Trent University in 1997, I went on to have
a successful career on the picture desk of OK! Magazine. I loved the celebrity world but was always drawn to the sea, and in 2013 finally took the
plunge and left London for Sunny Worthing. Once here I set up We Are Mountain, creating seaside influenced screen prints and linocuts, turning them
into cards, fridge magnets and tea towels. Being able create artwork in my workshop by the sea and freelancing at magazines in the big smoke, means
I have the very best of both worlds!

 

Describe your printmaking process.

 I start with a photograph. My favourite places for inspiration are the seafront here in Worthing and also the Booth Museum in Brighton.
I work on the photograph in photoshop to break it down into layers, which I then screen print.

How and where did you learn to print?

 I did a tiny amount of printmaking, mainly linocuts, at school and on my art foundation course, but learned how to screen print
on a brilliant course at Westdean Collage with Jane Sampson in 2014.

 

Why printmaking?

 I was drawn to it mainly because you don’t have to rely on being able to draw well (I’m rubbish at drawing, sadly!) I love the way
you can combine photographic technique with a more artistic approach to create a piece of work.

Where do you work?

 I work on my images at home, and then use the open access studio at Inkspot Press in Brighton.

 

How long have you been printmaking?

I’ve been screen printing for almost four years.

What inspires you?

I find living by the sea hugely inspirational, I’ve always been drawn to the sea – before I moved to Worthing I lived in Harrow in North West London…
but the decor inside the flat was decidedly nautical… I think living by the sea was meant to be!

 

What is your favourite printmaking product?

 I mainly use Speedball Screenprinting Inks. 

Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?

 I sell my work at Inspired By The Sea, the Worthing Museum shop and
Flowers4 in Worthing,
The Jerwood Gallery  shop in Hastings, The Bureau of Change in Southsea, The Art House in Southampton, The Green Tree Gallery at Borde Hill Gardens and online on Etsy, Folksy, Buy The Sea and MicroMkt. I am also
selling at a few Christmas Markets including the Handprinted Makers’ Market!

What will we be seeing from you next?

 The Booth Museum has just acquired the most wonderful taxidermy cheetah (created by ethical taxidermist Jazmine Miles-Long). I have
just started work on a print from photographs I took last week.

I am also planning more full colour tea towels and hopefully fabric that will be made into cushion covers.

 

Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?

 I’m very new to printmaking, so not sure what advice I could give, apart from there is no right or wrong way of approaching your
work, and if you’ve never tried screen printing before, give it a go, it’s brilliant!

Keep up to date with Sophie and her work on Etsy, her website and instagram

 

 

 

 

 

In this project we will show you how to screen print onto paper using paper stencils. With this method, you can print multiples of your designs in several
layers of flat colour without having to make an exposed screen or using screen filler. When screen printing, ink is forced through a fine mesh onto
a flat surface. A paper stencil will block areas of the paper from receiving ink, creating your design. When using a paper stencil, you should be able
to get 10 – 25 prints made before the stencil starts to deteriorate. 

Standard copy paper works best for paper stencils. It is thin enough to achieve sharp edges but strong enough to block the wet ink. Acetate stencils, although
washable, can slip and ink can get underneath them. Trace your drawing into your separate parts. Each stencil will be printed in a different colour.
This design is being printed in two colours. When making a screen printing stencil, not all the parts have to be connected – you can have ‘islands’
that you put down in the correct place before printing. 

Use a scalpel and a cutting board to cut out your stencils.

If your stencils are comprised of different cut out elements, like these ones, use allows and pencil marks to help you line up the different pieces so
that they don’t get twisted and misaligned when laying them down. 

Next, prepare your screen. A 90T mesh screen is best for printing onto paper. We are using an A3 sized screen with an A4 stencil in the centre. Use parcel tape on the front and back of the screen to block the mesh around the edges. You want to leave an opening that is smaller
than your stencil but allows your whole design to fit inside. Tape the back of the screen in the same way, sandwiching the mesh between the two layers
of tape. 

Hinge clamps are an easy way to print a registered (lined-up) image and to print multiples of one print. These hinge clamps are attached to a board. The screen
is held in the clamps and can be lifted up and down on the hinges. Each time it is placed down on the board it is in the same position. 

Place your paper down on the board and your stencil on top. If using hinge clamps, put your screen down on top to make sure your whole design fits within
the opening. 

It can help to spray a little low-tack spray mount down on your surface to hold your printing paper in place and stop it from sticking to the screen. Mark
the location of the corners of your paper with masking tape. That way you can place each piece of paper in the correct place.

Acrylic screen printing inks are used for printing onto paper. You can make your own acrylic inks by mixing acrylic paint with System 3 Acrylic Screen Printing Medium in a 50:50 ratio. If the proportion of acrylic paint is too high, the paint will dry
in the screen and cause permanent blockages. You can make the colours more translucent by adding more medium to the mix. 

If using hinge clamps, lift the edge of your screen and prop it onto something like a roll of tape. This holds the screen away from the paper whilst you
flood it. Scoop a line of ink along the bottom edge of the opening of your screen. 

Use a squeegee that
is slightly wider than your design. Hold your squeegee at a 45 degree angle away from you to drag the ink up the screen. You don’t need to press hard
at this point. This is called a flood. If you prefer, you can place your ink at the top on the screen and flood down the mesh instead of up. 

The holes in your mesh should be filled with a thin layer of ink. If there are any patched left open, flood again. 

Remove your chocks and place the screen flat on the board. Holding the squeegee at a 45 degree angle towards you, pull the squeegee down the screen. You
need to press firmly and should hear a sound resembling a tent zip. You do not need to add any more ink for this squeegee pull, we are just pushing
the ink from the flood through the mesh and onto the paper. 

Carefully lift your screen to reveal your print. The ink should have stuck the paper stencil to the screen.

Place the next piece of printing paper on the board using your masking tape corners as a guide. Once you have started printing, your ink is at risk of
drying in the screen so you will need to work fairly quickly between prints. Once you have finished this layer, peel off the stencil and use a wet,
soft sponge to clean the remaining ink off the screen. 

When your first print layer is dry, place a print onto your board. Put your second stencil over the top of your print, lining up the different elements.
Check your screen is dry and that your whole design will fit in the opening when it’s placed down. 

For this second layer we are using a pre-mixed Acrylic Screen Printing Ink by Speedball in Gold. Pre-mixed inks do not need any medium added. Lift your screen slightly and flood
with the second colour. 

Place your screen down and pull the squeegee down the screen, pressing firmly. 

Life to reveal your two layer print! Print the rest of your edition using the same method and then peel off your stencil and wash the screen thoroughly. 

To make a paper stencil screen print you will need:

• 90T Screen
• Copy Paper
• Pencil
• Scalpel
• Parcel Tape
• Board with Hinge Clamps (optional but helpful)
• Spray Mount (optional)
• Paper for Printing
• Masking Tape
• Acrylic Paint and Acrylic Screen Printing Medium OR
• Speedball Acrylic Screen Printing Ink
• Squeegee
• Soft Sponge

Hello, I am Cath Bristow, a Brighton based printmaker. I use my printmaking practice to work in community engagement and outreach, facilitating printmaking
workshops across the South East with children, young people and adults within different community settings.

 

I have my own printmaking practice and my community printmaking practice and the two are inextricably linked. Facilitating the different needs, abilities
and emotions within a group workshop can be both mentally and physically exhausting and to balance this my own practice gives back to me and helps
to refresh my energy. Often working with a group will spark an idea that I might take forward into my own work and sometimes a technique that I have
developed within my own work I will take into my community practice, so the two go hand in hand.

 

Describe your printmaking process. 

For the last 6 years I have been working in Collagraph. I begin with a drawing but this is the starting point and often as I make the plate the idea will
change and develop. For me it is important to be flexible and not stick too rigidly to a plan or drawing as this leaves room to also work spontaneously.

Using mount board as the base I use a combination of shapes that I cut from thin card and incised lines and areas that are cut from the mount board. Sometimes
I add a little texture by using textured wallpaper, lace, or carborundum. I play around with the layout and arrangement of the shapes and textures
then glue them to the mount board base

To ink up the collagraphs I use the intaglio process of inking and wiping for the incised lines and then I ink the raised card areas with a roller like
a relief print. This is very messy and I always have lots of clearing up to do! Finally I print the plate onto dampened Fabriano paper on a beautiful
Rochat etching press at bip Art printmaking studio in Brighton. Sometimes I make 2 plates
that are registered and printed on top of each other as in my print called “out of the shadows”:

How and where did you learn to print?

I feel like I am learning new things about printmaking all the time! I was introduced to screen print onto fabric and relief print over 30 years ago on
my Art and Design Btec course. I went on to study for a degree in Art and Social Context at Dartington college of Arts in Devon. The course was all
about honing your practice and stripping it back to create an accessible practice to take out and work within a community context. I developed a real
love of low tech printmaking and experimented with cut paper stencil screen print, overprinting and simple block making on paper and fabric. Following
this, I moved to London and began working with Cloth of Gold (now Social Fabric), an
Arts organisation working on collaborative print projects within schools, museums and galleries, working with lots of different simple but effective
printmaking techniques all of which after all these years we are still using with groups on a daily basis.

 

I have been lucky enough to work with some very skilled printmakers. I am always keen to keep upgrading my printmaking skills and over the last few years
have taken courses in Traditional etching, Collagraph and Zinc plate lithography at bip-Art printmaking in Brighton.

Why printmaking?

The satisfaction of seeing the print develop. Printmaking has so many stages to go through to produce the end result. Moving from the idea, the sketch,
to the translation into the plate, block or stencil, working out what will print, which way around, deciding what elements to keep, how different textures
might print. The element of chance and surprise that printmaking offers. The possibilities of exploring colour and how this impacts on the mood of
the finished print. And I am sure I speak for a lot of printmakers here, I love the surprise element of printmaking and never tire from the excitement,
anticipation and magic of lifting the screen or plate to reveal the printed work.

Why printmaking in community? Passing on the love of printmaking to more people!

 

Where do you work?

Different places every day, like a printmaking nomad! Could be a community centre, a school, an Art gallery or most recently Chichester Cathedral. I teach
short courses in Printed Textiles at bip-Art printmaking in Brighton. I work with Social Fabric who specialise in collaborative printmaking and participatory projects with young people and adults across the South East. Over the last 4 years I
have worked increasingly developing printmaking workshops within Mental Health and well-being.

I create my printing plates, stencils, experiment with print ideas, mix inks and prepare materials in a studio that I share with a lovely group of makers
in Brighton. I am a member of bip-Art printmaking studio and Screen-art Brighton where I use the presses and facilities to print my work.

How long have you been printmaking? 

I have been leading printmaking workshops for the past 20 years and have been developing my own printmaking practice for the last 15 years.

The first printmaking job I did was t-shirt printing on a play scheme for my local community arts team in Lancaster when I was 19. During this summer I
worked with Social-Fabric, printing t-shirts with young people from the Grenfell community and I thought wow! here I am printing t-shirts 30 years
later and I still love it!

What inspires you?

The power of creativity. Going into a space with a group of young people or adults with blank paper, cloth or t-shirts, most of them having no previous
experience of printmaking and at the end of the session those people leaving with an amazing, colourful, individual collection of prints that they
have created -that is very inspiring!

What is your favourite printmaking product?

A squeegee, a
screen and newsprint have served me very
well!

Caligo oil based water washable ink,
often I am working on a tight budget but even if people are making blocks out of polystyrene pizza trays or cereal boxes they always look really professional
when they are inked up and printed with good quality ink.

Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?

www.cathbristow.co.uk

http://www.social-fabric.co.uk/

http://www.bip-art.co.uk/

I sell my own work from my studio,with bip-Art printmaking at the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea and through artist open houses during the Brighton festival
every May.

What will we be seeing from you next?

more fun printmaking projects and workshops hopefully! Over the last 6 months within my own printmaking practice I have been going back to explore screen
printing on paper, so hopefully more screen prints too! I have also worked in collaboration with Brighton-based upholsterer Kiki Voltaire to create a series of limited edition hand screen printed noticeboards.

Do you have any advice for other printmakers?

Join an open access printmaking studio. It is inspiring to work alongside other printmakers. It is great to have access to professional presses, rollers
and a dedicated print studio. It is a really positive experience to work in a collaborative space with others absorbed in their creative processes.
At bip-Art printmaking we have a range of members, some who have just left 6th form college and others who are in their eighties and have been printmaking
for most of their lives. There is a fantastic spirit of generosity within the studio, printmakers sharing their knowledge and tips, making connections
and developing exhibition opportunities with each other.

See more of Cath Bristow’s work on her website.

 

This year 20 members of the Handprinted studio are submitting work to the 20:20 Print Exchange. The 20:20 Print Exchange is an exchange organised by Hot
Bed Press in Salford. Each participant has to print an edition of 25 prints that are 20cm x 20cm. There are approximately 500 artists that take part
from around 40 studios. Each participant receives a box of 20 prints that includes one of their own and 19 randomly selected prints from other artists.
The participants can print with whatever method they wish. Below are the prints from the 20 artists from Handprinted. What a fantastic selection! For
more information about the 20:20 print exchange please click here. 

Top left: Holly Newnham – Screenprint

Top right: Debbie Moran – Two block Linocut

Bottom left: Phil King – Linocut

Bottom right: Anna Vartiainen – Screenprint

 

Top left: Lila Das Gupta – Drypoint

Top right: Martin Jones – Hand drawn screenprint

Bottom left: Judy Williams – Screenprint

Bottom right: Caroline Whalley – Acid etched copper plate and drypoint 

Top left: Jan Harbon – Screenprint

Top right: Trevor Ingham – Wood Engraving

Bottom left: Lesley Ormrod – Screenprint

Bottom right: Tom Boulton – Letterpress

Top left: Diane Palin – Woodcut

Top right: Tricia Johnson – Papercut screenprint

Bottom left: Rebecca Palin – Linocut

Bottom right: Barbara Lammas – Screenprint

Top left: Shirley Scott – Screenprint

Top right: Gillian Collins – Screenprint

Bottom left: Fabiola Knowles – Reduction linocut

Bottom right: Sue England – Screenprint

Tom Boulton will be teaching Letterpress in the Handprinted studio starting at the end of October! You may also have seen Tom in the Handprinted shop if you’ve popped in to say hello. 

I’m a typographic designer who started buying letterpress machines and type about 10 years ago. I design and print artwork, stationery and products that
are unique and affordable. I have my own line of products, I also do commission design and print work for individuals, independent shops and galleries
as well as larger organisations. Over the years I have worked on commissions and run events with a number of different groups including Tate Modern,
Southbank Centre, Design Museum, Fortnum & Mason to name a few.

 

 

Describe your printmaking process.

 

Letterpress is a puzzle and a constant battle. It goes – I have an idea in my head that needs to be printed, I then have the limitations of the typefaces
I physically have in the point sizes they are, I have a chase they have to be locked out in, that all then goes into the machine to be printed
one colour at a time. During this process I have to be very flexible to allow the type to design and form itself, to let everything balance, to
give the print the correct feel and desired effect, whilst bearing in mind what the end product is and how it will be made. When I start I often
have an idea in my mind but in the end the design often looks nothing like my original concept.

 

 

How and where did you learn to print?

 

I have always loved printing and making things with my hands. I did not start letterpress printing until I finished my degree at London College of
Printing and realised the potential that letterpress has for mass production of real prints. So I started by purchasing an Adana 8 x 5 and got
my first commission (to design and print gift certificates for a shop). After printing them I realised that an Adana was not enough for what I
wanted to do! So I started to buy more machines and type, then I started teaching myself how to print, how to get different effects and how to
make different products, then find its application in the modern world.

 

 

Why letterpress printmaking?

 

It was a really simple thing, I really enjoyed print making, I love machinery and engineering and there was a need and a gap in the market – letterpress
offers mass production for the individual whilst at the same time allowing the ability to control what you do and how you make it, you can pull
real prints – to produce real products that have soul that can be sold for an affordable price – it means I don’t have to go down the route of
producing one real print then having to get it digitally reproduced to be able to sell one – I really don’t like digital copies.

 

 

Where do you work?

 

I work from my office at home (for designing and office work) and I have a main workshop in Bognor Regis (for printing).

 

 

Describe a typical day in your studio.

 

I don’t really have a typical day in the workshop – I tend to have a very long to do list and just go at it and get on with it! The nature of what
I do means that there are a lot of different elements and things that need doing day to day – whether that is printing, creasing, book binding,
restoring machines, updating the website, planning an event, packing up orders, doing running repairs, meeting clients, designing new products.
It’s good because each day is different but it really is a very long list!!!!!

 

How long have you been printmaking?

 

I have been professionally printing for around 10 years.

 

 

What inspires you?

 

I don’t really find inspiration in a lot of current design. I find it much easier to be inspired by the weird things I collect – I really like old
packaging, strange colour combinations, old 50’s life style magazines, Typefaces on sheet music, retro computer gaming. I recently became a father
for the first time – it has be very inspiring to watch a little person grow and see the excitement she gets when seeing things for the first time,
it makes you look at things in a different way which is great.

 

 

What is your favourite printmaking product?

 

Letterpress printing is one of those weird processes that means I do not really need to buy much to print with – apart from a lot of low odour white
spirit, recently I tried Zest-it as an alternative to white spirits for when I’m doing workshops or pop up printing away from my workshop (where the
smell of white spirit is not popular!)

 

 

 

What have you made that you are most proud of? 

 

I feel very proud of the process itself and the work that has gone into restoring my machines, most of which were going to end up being sold for spares
or just scrapped. I think for anyone who restores machinery you feel strangely bonded to a machine at the end of process, you develop an understanding
for the amount of time others have spent engineering it. In my case an era when engineering was very basic and raw (most of my machines date between
1880’s – 1950’s) each time I use a machine there is a sense of pride. 

 

 

 

Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?

 

I like to take part in exhibitions, and I sell to a number of shops across the UK from small independents to museums, galleries and to larger shops.
If it looks like a letterpress print turn it over, if it is mine it will say my name on it. I also sell direct through etsy (TypeTom).

 

 

What will we be seeing from you next?

 

More printing, More Machines, More Workshops, More Products, More Stuff & Definitely some road trips!

 

 

Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?

 

Do it and enjoy it. To have a creative output is a privilege and it should not be broken down and dissolved with overly concerning yourself with the
real world or what other people expect or want. Find your own voice and do it your own way.

See more of Tom’s work on his website, on Instagram or get your hands on some of his prints via Etsy.

To book a place on Tom’s Introduction to Letterpress Workshop starting at the end of October. 

We’ve been thrilled to have Laura Boswell here for two Japanese Woodblock Workshops over four days this week. Laura’s workshops are packed with essential
woodblock skills and invaluable advice to get you started with the art of Japanese Woodblock.

Over the course of each two day workshop, the techniques are broken down into separate skills that Laura demonstrates before going round the group to help
each person achieve each skill. On the first day of the workshop we learned the correct way to use a Hangito tool and how to carve a block.

We then designed our prints and, with help from Laura, worked out the order in which the blocks would be printed before transferring our design onto
Japanese ply.

After the edges of a block has been cut with the Hangito, the U tools are used to carve a gully around the edge of each shape. 

The elegant Japanese registration system of Kento marks enables your blocks to line up perfectly so that they fit together and can be overprinted for layers
of tone and shading.

After a full day of designing and carving, the blocks were ready to print. 

Japanese Woodblock uses watercolour paints and nori rice paste. The blocks are inked up with brushes. 

Laura demonstrated how to ink up and print your blocks using a baren…

…and we spent the day printing with and layering our blocks to form our design. 

 

Here are some examples of the work produced over the two workshops:

Book now to reserve your place on next October’s weekend and weekday workshops! The weekend workshop
has only two places remaining.

 

Hi I’m Scarlett Rebecca, a printmaker living in Brighton. I split myself between two creative lives; half the time I work from my studio as surface pattern
designer using printmaking in my designs and the other half as a fine art printmaker and technical demonstrator at Brighton University.

 

Describe your printmaking process.

I am a relief printmaker and I predominantly use linocut, when I am working at the studio I will draw from life and work these drawings into a rough pattern.
Then I will cut them as intuitively as I can, without relying too heavily on the drawing. I will then print the designs on my little nipping press
and turn them into a technical repeat in Photoshop or Illustrator.

 

How and where did you learn to print?

I started printing when I was in High School, we had to do forgeries as part of our technical understanding and I chose a Cyril Power linocut. Since then
I’ve been hooked, I studied textile printmaking and I’ve done many short courses, including ones at Print Club London and BIP here in Brighton. The
last course I did earlier this year was etched lino at The Art Academy with the wonderfully talented Steve Edwards.

Why printmaking?

Because it is unquestionably the best art form, I try to tell everyone this. The texture, the shapes, the depth of mark and colour, I love it! I think
people unfamiliar with printmaking are often scared or intimidated by it. I want everyone to try it and love it. I have been teaching print classes
for nearly 10 years, now I run print workshops for couples from my studio.

 

Where do you work?

I split my week between my studio in central Brighton and the fine art printmaking department at Brighton University where I work as a technical demonstrator
for lithography. During the summer break while the students have been away I have been researching and experimenting with lithography techniques. I
have had a huge amount of fun trying out Mokulito – lithography using plywood instead of stone or metal. It’s an incredibly exciting technique as your
results will differ depending on which type of wood you use, plus you can employ woodcut techniques to the surface!

Describe a typical day in your studio.

I usually get to my shared studio between 10 – 11 and stay there until 8 or 9, depending on how absorbed I get. I will answer emails and do as much ‘boring’
stuff as I can first and then I will warm myself up with some drawing, usually listening to Desert Island Discs podcasts. Then I will look over what
I have been working on the day before to make sure it’s not rubbish! I have been working more and more in illustrator recently, trying to capture/retain
the textured effects of my linocuts and I am not very fast so this takes up a lot of my time! I try to get out for a little break in the afternoon
but I am naughty and sometimes I will stay at my desk all day. When I am bleary eyed and probably making rubbish work I will walk home.

 

What inspires you?

Pattern, texture and shape. I take a lot of inspiration from the natural world; wildlife, flora and fauna. I try to take inspiration from the world around
me, I recently challenged myself to 100 days of finding pattern (you can see my finds on my twitter) since then I am seeing pattern and inspiration
everywhere!

What is your favourite printmaking product?

My Pfiel cutters, they are my most
treasured printmaking possessions, and proper fresh battleship grey lino, I just love the smell.

What have you made that you are most proud of?

I started a side project last year aiming to use up my small scraps of lino, I cut an A-Z of small wildlife illustrations. It used up my lino scraps perfectly
(I had to be a bit inventive with some drawings!) and I enjoyed learning about British wildlife.

Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?

I sell cards and prints in a couple of shops here in Brighton and you will find me at the Christmas Open House Festival at Bluebell Would house, and I
will be doing the Fairy Tale Fair at the Open Market on November 26^th.

Online you can buy my work from my shop.

What will we be seeing from you next?

I have a few larger scale linocuts planned that I will be slowly working on over the next few months alongside design work. I will be working on a stone
lithograph for an upcoming exhibition of stone lithography in Japan, translating an image of my brain from a recent brain scan onto the stone.

 

Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?

Draw every day.

 

Keep up to date with Scarlett Rebecca and her work on Instagram, Twitter and via her website and shop!

 

Screen printing is a brilliant way to make the most of your hand drawn designs. It enables you to print them multiple times for framed artwork or cards
or to create your own fabrics, bags and t-shirts. You can use your designs to make into photographic screens yourself at home or we can make them here for you at Handprinted. However you’re making your photographic screens, you’ll need to get your artwork
ready. 

An important rule for making photographic screens is that your design needs to be full black and white. This is different to a grey-scale image (like a
black and white photograph) which has tones of grey. The whole of your design needs to consist of only completely black and completely white areas.
In this post we’re going to look at creating screen-ready artwork from hand drawn, scanned designs. 

The image above is a hand drawn design for screen printing. It consists only of black and white areas and has been made screen ready in Adobe Photoshop.

When screens are exposed they are coated with a layer of light sensitive Photo Emulsion and Sensitiser mix. The emulsion coated screen is exposed to a light with a printed film of your design between the light and the screen.
When the emulsion is exposed to light, the black areas of the design block the light, stopping it reaching the emulsion. The white areas of the design
(transparent on the film) let the light through, allowing the light to expose the emulsion. The exposed areas of emulsion go hard and block the holes
in the mesh – ink will not go through these areas. The unexposed areas stay soft and washable – the soft emulsion washes out of the screen creating
open mesh that ink can pass through. 

Creating a Suitable Drawing for Screen Printing

Some drawn designs will be suitable for creating screens and others will not. The drawing below on the left has been drawn with pencil with lots of shading.
These grey tones will not be suitable for making a screen as they will not be able to create clear areas of open and closed mesh. The drawing on the
right has been drawn in pen. Shading has been achieved using thin hatching. This design is made up of just black and white areas so will be suitable
for a screen! Drawings in pen will always be easier to work with than drawings in pencil which will need a lot of darkening to make them fully black. 

If you’re sending your design to Handprinted to have a Custom Exposed Screen made you will need to scan your drawing and get it ready. Here are a few basic ways to get your image ready
for a screen using Adobe Photoshop. There are lots of free or cheaper programmes that will have similar tools that you can use too.

Preparing a Scanned Drawing

When you scan your drawing into your computer the background will usually come out slightly off-white and your black areas will come out dark grey. 

To lighten up the background and darken your image you can use Levels. Go to Image – Adjustment – Levels and a box will appear
with a graph on it. This graph shows how your light levels look. There are three arrows beneath the graph. You can move these arrows left and right
to change the levels. Move the left arrow to the right until it reaches the first ‘swell’ on your graph. Move the right arrow in to the left until
it reaches the large ‘peak’ in the graph. You can adjust the middle arrow to the left and right to adjust the mid levels. Click OK when you
like what you see.

Scanned images often come through with dark edges and spots of dust from the glass of the scanned. You can get rid of these with the Eraser Tool
shown below. Make sure the two boxes on your tool bar are black at the top and white at the bottom (shown at the bottom of the picture below) by clicking
the tiny boxes above. 

Use the Eraser Tool to get rid of any dark areas and marks. 

You’ll need to make sure that your image is on the right size document for making a screen. Go to the top bar and click Image – Image Size to
check the size. This image is for an A4 screen so we need our document to be 21cm x 29.7cm. Set the resolution to 300 pixels/inch to make sure it’s
a high quality image. 

If your image is not the right size you can change it by cropping. Select the Cropping Tool from the side bar. Put your desired dimensions into
the Width and Height bars at the top and then drag your Cropping Tool over the image to resize it and press Enter. 

It’s best to create screen films from PDFs as the format ensures that everything stays the correct size as you want it. To save as a PDF go to File – Save As and
then select Photoshop PDF from the drop-down menu.

Getting Rid of Pencil Lines

If you have created your scan from an original drawing there may be sketch lines and pencil lines that you need to remove.

 

Firstly, use Levels to lighten the background and darken the image, as before, by going to Image – Adjustment – Levels and sliding the arrows left
and right. 

You can remove any left over pencil lines using the Dodge Tool you’ll find in your tool bar. The Dodge Tool, pictured below,
lightens up the background. At the top of the screen, set Range to ‘Highlights’ and Exposure to around 50%. Use the tool
to remove the pencil lines.

Once your designs look full black and white and are on the correct size document they are ready to be made into screen films to make your exposed screens.
Send your designs to us for Custom Exposed Screens or use them at home!

Hello, I’m Sophie Chadwick, senior textile designer and co-founder of Seasalt, a clothing, fabric and accessory retailer based in Cornwall.

Describe your design processes.

We start each collection (Spring/Summer, Autumn/Winter) with a theme, which is always influenced by the people and places we love in Cornwall. The theme
then gets developed to create different mini collections/stories, one for each month of the year.

We do lots of research, create mood boards, and develop colour palettes for each mini collection. The garments, colours, prints, names, and locations for
the photo-shoots are all inspired by the season’s theme.

I create all of the print designs for Seasalt, along with a very talented designer called Kathryn Fowler. From these mood boards Kathryn and I start drawing,
painting, printing, using batik and collage; all these different media are used to create interesting marks and textures. Here I am drawing with hot
wax, using a tjanting.

Mark making and fine pen and ink drawings.

This work then gets scanned into the computer. This allows us to create the repeat of the design, to play with scale, and quickly see how the print will
look in different colour ways.

We produce approximately 350 prints per year. Once Kathryn and I have a sufficient quantity of designs, we work closely with all the garment designers
and buyers to allocate the prints to garments. This is done based on many criteria; sales history, fabric group and of course creative instinct!

Once allocated, we create a digital artwork, with pantone colour references (an industry standard for colour), which is then sent to the suppliers in India,
Sri Lanka, China and Turkey. They follow the artwork to cut screens and send us a ‘strike off’ on correct fabric base. We then check these to see that
the design, scale, repeat and colours are accurate, and send comments back to the mills if they are not. We have to make sure that all colours within
the prints match other garments within the collection, so that they are easy to outfit. Sometimes it can take up to 5 strike offs to achieve the perfect
print.

How and where did you learn printmaking?

I come from a family of artists; Mum was a florist, Auntie is a textile designer, and my Uncle taught at Camberwell School of Art. They all taught me so
much growing up. Ever since I could hold a pencil I haven’t stopped drawing, painting, printing and making! I did a one year Foundation in general
Art & Design at Falmouth School of Art, and then a degree in Textiles & Fashion at Winchester School of Art. I specialised in printed textiles.

Why printmaking?

I decided to specialise in printed textiles even though I really enjoyed weave and knit. I think that I am better with two-dimensional design and pattern,
and I must say that I found threading up the loom too labour intensive and technical! I have also always been so excited by print making, watching
my Uncle cut the most intricate lino prints from a very early age.

Here I am printing a lino block based on the traditional Working Boats of Falmouth. The design is called ‘Sunday Sail’ and has been used on pyjamas and
bed linen.

 

Here is another floral lino print, called ‘Lino Chrysanth’. On the left is the lino block, inked up and ready to print, and on the right is the final printed
bamboo jersey print. It is on a dress and a tunic and is featured in ‘A Story of a Print’ video on our website.

Lino and potato prints ready to create repeating designs.

Where do you work?

Most of the time I work with our design team at our studios in Falmouth, but some days I work from home. These are the days when I need to have some time
to think, and space to create things by hand and get messy, whether it’s potato printing, lino printing, painting or wax resist.

What inspires you?

We’re lucky to have so much inspiration on our doorstep; the dramatic landscapes of Cornwall, nature, our maritime heritage, traditional working boats
which race outside our window, art, sculpture and pottery.

What is your favourite printmaking product?

Potatoes! Some of my favourite Seasalt designs have been created from potato prints. I am slightly addicted to carving and printing with potatoes. I simply
love the process of doing it, and love the result achieved.

Here are two textile designs from our Spring Summer ’18 Collection that I created using potato prints. Trengrouse Top – Lemon Stamp Hay, and Pretty Printed
Scarf – Block Geo Seaglass.

What will we be seeing from you next?

I am currently working on prints for our Spring/Summer 2019 collection. I’m afraid that I can’t tell you what the theme is as we want it to be a surprise
for our customers, but it is connected to an artistic movement that I have loved since a child.

Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?

Marry wisely!…ideally to a man with a couple of shops that you can sell you stuff in!!!! Apart from that, just to keep making,….creating,….
doing! The world is a richer, more beautiful place as a result of people producing things by hand.

Keep up with Sophie Chadwick and Seasalt on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!