Screenprinting colour swatches

 

Sometimes size does matter

Today I have been working on my largest screen to date. I usually print without using the arm on the printing press as I prefer to feel the squeegee directly, but due to the size of this screen, using the arm was a must.

Even with the arm, printing on this scale is a challenge due to my size. Because I cannot reach over the screen, it is not possible for me to apply a strong and even force over the entire screen, and so the areas closer to where I am positioned are printed more clearly than the areas further away.

The image is a repetitive tally chart pattern intended to be printed repeatedly over a large surface to suggest a the duration over which it was made. I am slightly concerned that it may be regarded as a product of boredom, and be associated with prisoners counting the days they have been in prison, but want for it to be suggestive of the labour intensive activity that forms the image, and indicate an element of obsessiveness with mark making. 

I began printing with black ink in order to get a good idea of how the print will turn out and detect any problem areas. 

I then worked my way through different colours, hoping to achieve a gradual shift from one colour to the next.

More experiments with screen printed paper

I am trying to make use of material that I have already generated, and think about new ways to do so. Today I have been experimenting more with the strips of screen printed paper. Some of these explorations make me feel slightly uneasy because they are verging on the decorative, but that in itself is as interesting problem. 

At the moment, the image above shows one side of the work, and so it is existing in a more painterly realm. However, I could turn my focus to exploring what happens when there is imagery and colour on both sides of the paper, therefore moving the work into a more sculptural realm.

Weaving with screenprints

I am not happy with the screen prints as individual prints in themselves, and feel I need to work further with them, building up layers. 

Using wax crayon and ink pens, I added extra marks and tone to the screenprints. I then cut the paper into strips of equal width and lengths, and then weaved them together to form a sheet. I am pleased that this mixes things up in a relatively uncontrolled manner, therefore creating unexpected results.

Screenprinting examples

These are some images of recent screen printing experiments.

This print was made by using a unexposed screen (one with no image on). Rather than printing one colour at a time, I added a number of colours to the screen before using the squeegee to push the ink through the screen. I enjoy the unpredictability of what will be produced and the fact that each print is unique.

The above pattern came about through the use of tissue paper to print on. Because that part of the screen got a lot of ink pushed through, the tissue paper buckled when printed on, creating this rather appealing pattern.

The above marks were made by spraying water onto the ink on the screen before printing. Spraying the screen helps keep the ink to the consistency for printing, as opposed to drying on the screen.

The image above is formed from a number of prints of the same design, but each time I printed, I turned the paper around to help reduce the predictability of the pattern.

In these examples, I printed one design in light blue onto the paper and then waited till it had dried to enable another layer to be added in a different design and a different colour.

Screenprinting, mark-making experiments

Over the past few days I have enjoyed spending time in the printmaking workshop doing some screen printing.

The images that I exposed to the screens included a number of scanned mark making experiments that I did with silicone on different surfaces, a pencil drawing, and a few ink drawings of the little sculptures that I have been making.

So far I have concentrated on printing the mark making experiments, and have been testing printing on different materials and using different combinations of colours.

With the image above, I printed onto tissue paper and the delicate tissue paper stuck to the screen as the vacuum on the print bed was not working. When I peeled it off, the crumpled mark left on the screen was interesting, and so when printing the next image I did not flood the screen, but allowed the squeegee to pull through the remains of the ink left from the previous image, leaving the pattern of the crumpled tissue paper. 

Screenprinting induction

This morning we had our introduction to screen printing and then were let loose ourselves this afternoon! 

Given the short amount of time we had to prepare imagery for the screen, I made a simple drawing using cut out bits of card, drawn lines with marker pen and areas of pastel onto the acetate.

We then exposed the screen and when checking the screen after exposure, I could then see that the drawn marker pen lines and pastel areas would not be printed well as they obviously did not block enough of the light when the screen was being exposed. 

This is the result:

The areas where the card cut out were placed have printed as solid black shapes, but the other drawn marks did not print well.

I then printed the image again to see how it would change when printed onto an already patterned surface (this was a screen print blend that I had done about a year ago).

I also produced another quick image using the cut out pieces of card, and this time used a screen that did not have emulsion on. I stuck the card pieces onto the surface of the screen using making tape. In theory, the areas around the cut out card areas should be printed.

However, the result was not as I expected as the ink did not go into all the areas in between the pieces of card and so I got a very rough print.

When printed onto the gridded paper (another screen print that I had done years before), the image reminded me of an architects plan drawing of an interior.

I was disappointed that the imagery had not printed as I had intended, and liked the look of the screen once I had printed (as above), so I removed all of the cut out pieces of card, and then printed onto the paper to get the following result:

Turner Prize Nominees Announced

I am delighted that my friend and colleague, Ciara Phillips has been nominated for the 2014 Turner Prize. 

Once again, Glasgow-based or Glasgow-educated artists feature heavily. Out of the four nominees, three are GSA alumni. Tris Vonn Michell , Ciara Phillips and Duncan Campbell are all shortlisted for the prize, awarded to an outstanding British artist under the age of 50.

Tris Vonna-Michell (Fine Art Photography, 2005) is noted for his semi-improvised presentations, often using slide projections, with an egg-timer to let him know when he has reached his limit. He has been nominated for a solo show in Brussels.

Ciara Phillips (MFA, 2004) is nominated for a two-month project at The Showroom gallery in London, where she set up a temporary workshop and invited artists, designers, and local women's groups to produce new screen prints.

Duncan Campbell (MFA, 1998) is nominated for his presentation at the Scottish Pavilion of the 2013 Venice Biennale in which he screened the 1953 film Statues Also Die alongside his response – a film which featured choreography by Michael Clark and explored the commercialisation of African art.

James Richards is the final shortlisted artist. He graduated from Chelsea School of Art in 2006. He is nominated for his work called Rosebud which was exhibited in Venice.



Read what the papers have to say:

Mark Brown, arts correspondent, The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/may/07/turner-prize-2014-shortlist-unveiled

http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/may/07/four-artists-shortlisted-turner-prize-2014




Nick Clark‎, The Independent‎

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/turner-prize-2014-shortlist-duncan-campbell-and-ciara-phillips-among-nominees-9330686.html




James Lachno and PA, The Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/turner-prize/10812735/Turner-Prize-2014-shortlist-of-nominees-announced.html




James Howe, The List

http://www.list.co.uk/article/60710-nominees-for-turner-prize-2014-announced/

Additional photos of AnSo Live Screenprinting and Exhibition, Dundee