Part 2 Stage 3 (6)

Deconstructed screen printing

I've been intrigued by the idea of deconstructed screen printing ever since I saw these items on the internet by Kerr Grabowski.

http://www.kerrgrabowski.com/dsp.htm

http://www.kerrgrabowski.com/theglove.html

There's similar information from Claire Benn on this site:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odQa5GPCIW0

Basically I placed some textures onto some brown paper and put my screen over it.

I put some procion dye (the first time I have used it) in the well and pulled it across the screen.  I removed the screen and the paper (which had left good textures) and let the screen dry.

The drying screen

When it was dry I set out a large piece of calico and made several prints using only Manutex:

The first pull was somewhat underwhelming ...

.... but then things started to happen

... each print took a bit more ink out of the screen

I took a risk and put a tiny bit of dry yellow Procion on the Manutex

Some lovely blends

Going

Going

Gone

I was surprised at how busy the image was - I didn't put much on the original screen.  Once I added the yellow the whole thing came alive .

It's now wrapped in plastic and sitting in the warm until tomorrow.  I'll offer a final verdict then.

I think I made a big mistake when I took the fabric out of the plastic - I let it dry instead of washing it straight away.  When I did wash it I just couldn't get rid of the Manutex and ended up putting it in the washer.  Where the Mautex was thickest there is a sort of relief to the fabric. Whilst the result is interesting (and I didn't know what to expect)  I am disappointed that the colours are so pale.  But maybe this is to be expected, who knows.

The first print with just turquoise and magenta

the second

third

fourth - the introduction of yellow

fifth - with the colour starting to fade

sixth

seventh

and the last one with the colour almost gone

I'll need to try this technique again very soon, probably using less initial material, less Manutex and washing immediately after unwrapping it.