screen-printing

Tutor: Penny Brewill                                     

Wednesday evenings  (five places)

21st January - 11th March 7.00 PM –9.30 PM

Master printer Penny Brewill will teach participants how to make screen-prints with photographic or hand drawn imagery using safer, water-based inks. This popular stencil based process is restricted to eight places so book early to avoid disappointment.

Image: Robert Peters 'Navajo Tartan' screen-print

the technique

A stencil is adhered to a fine-meshed fabric that is stretched tightly over a wooden or metal frame, and ink is forced through the stencil onto paper with a squeegee. Sometimes called Silk-screens, from the days when the fabric was made exclusively of silk.

The stencil can be made in a number of ways. Light weight paper can be cut with a sharp blade and placed between the screen and the paper, the screen itself can be blocked by painting on a screen filler liquid or a photo-sensitive emulsion can be applied to the screen. In the latter process, exposure to a positive film on a light box creates the required stencil.