Photo Silk Screen Printing

After learning the basics of screen printing with a stencil, it was time to try the photo silkscreen method. The main differences in these two processes are; the image it's self and the way you prepare the screen. Unlike stencil printing, photographic screen printing allows you to use a far more complicated design, this is due to the photo emulsion you apply to the screen. Instead of blocking your ink with a paper stencil beneath the screen, this process burns the image onto the screen.

To begin I must have a design, this time my own original one. At this point I hadn't decided on which directors vision I wanted to go with so I chose to do an illustration that would be able to work with visions 2, 3 & 4. My automatic ideas were to take objects directly related to the opera; a cigarette box and a tarot card. I then decided to think a little less literally but still in appropriate context to the props that could be used in the opera. My research took me to the popularity of collectable match boxes back in the time the opera was written as well as in the following years. Not sure which object to use I began designing an illustration that could be applicable and interchangeable to all three surfaces.

The foundation of this design was an image of a couple dancing with Flamenco style clothing. As I had already sketched out my ideas for the matchbox, cigarette box and

tarot card in an extended line style I thought it best to do the same with the two figures. Turning the entire image into an angular, linear design enabled me to not only match the look of the objects but also exaggerate the characters more.

Initially I had drawn the figure of Carmen dancing with a man I thought could be Don Jose or Escamillo depending on the viewers' interpretation, however I soon realised I had taken it all too literally. After exploring symbolism and other key elements of the opera I came to like the idea of including the bull. I experimented with different depictions of a bull's head replacing the mans head, turning him into a Minotaur. The semi-realistic bull head didn't seem right so I developed the image more stylistically which emphasised the extended line style I started with. To aid me in this iterative process I sketched my designs on tracing paper so that I was able to continue aspects I liked onto the next sketch easily. This process allowed the fluid process to remain consistent.

The next stage was converting the pencil sketches into a series of digital designs. Scanning all the drawings into illustrator and photoshop enabled me to distort the character drawings onto the various object drawings. I chose to stick with the cigarette box due to liking it the most as a full design. After drawing up the line work I selected which colours in which sections I needed. To keep it simple I went with cyan, magenta and yellow, blocking out different sections to make a clearer distinction between the elements. The extended black line work was finally added on top to finish the design.

Applying the images to the screen meant printing out an A3 page with all four layers of the design next to each other in all black. This was then rubbed with oil on a rag to make the white of the paper transparent, leaving only the black opaque. In a dark cupboard the screen which had been covered in light sensitive emulsion was left to dry. Once dry, the image was placed on the screen which was then be exposed to light for around 10 minutes. Using a pressured water source I rinsed the screen of all the excess emulsion, this revealed where the black images blocked the light exposure process. I repeated this process twice, giving me two screens to work with so that I could alternate as the other was drying.

Mixing inks and preparing my work space followed. Keeping the colours from the digital mock up I mixed cyan, magenta, yellow and black. The colours I chose needed to be diluted with binder, this enables the ink to be applied smoother. You are also able achieve some really nice transparency effects if you change the ratio of binder to ink. Normally you would need around 50/50 ratio of binder to ink, which is what I did in this instance because I wanted full opacity for my prints to appear graphic and crisp.

Firstly I printed the yellow layer in a batch. Testing different techniques for alignment, one of which was masking tape templates onto the newsprint which covered my table. I tried my prints on various materials such as: card, corse paper, cotton, poly-cotton and magazine cuttings. Each surface presented it's own challenges but I enjoyed using the fabrics most as it made the next stage of printing far easier. In order to get the second colour, which was cyan, lined perfectly with the yellow I figured out leaving a dried cyan print below a fabric yellow meant that I could line the two up as the fabric showed the ink beneath. This process was repeated for the magenta layer then finally the black outlines.

The most important part of the entire process was making sure that I washed the screens throughly and regularly as the ink would dry on the screen if left too long which would block new ink from passing through on the next print.