Part 2 Stage 3 (5)

Discharge printing

(Apologies if you've read this before.  On the previous post detailing this work gremlins stole my photos.)

It's taken me some time to get a clear feel for this and ages to gather the resources together.  I expect my materials tomorrow.

In the meantime I've used that very exclusive product, Tesco bleach, and had a go at discharge printing.

Using Tesco bleach squirted through a nozzle
on cheap cotton/polyester jersey

On black poplin 

On denim

When my materials arrived I took a deep breath and did some mixing of thin chemical water and 

Manutex and set to work with varying degrees of success.

Using discharge agent on the green jersey as before.  A very different effect

On Procion dyed calico

On the blue example above the result after ironing was an almost white mark.  After washing the marks became pale blue which indicates the blue dye wasn't completely fast.  It's quite attractive.

I also tried to discharge some pink needlecord.  I spent time taping up my screen but to no avail.  The pattern showed at the ironing stage but disappeared on washing.  Maybe my ratio of discharge paste and Manutex was wrong.

I've just been doodling on this exercise and seeing what happens.

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.