screen printing | Onelargeprawn

Some months, we went to a screen printing workshop and had a fantastic time. Since then I have been yearning to turn a room in our basement into a workshop. Trouble is, the room is filled to the brim with the crap that can’t fit in the house above it. Also, it’s inhabited by the bane of my existence – FLEAS. Tonnes of fleas. I hate them, in a “fuck off and die” kind of way.

Anyhoo (people still say anyhoo right?), if the workshop became a reality, I wondered what kinds of unoriginal, mindless content I would likely produce. I need guidance and inspiration, and who better to get that from than screen printing gurus Aesthetic Apparatus.

Formed by beer-loving designers Dan Ibarra and Michael Byzewski, Aesthetic Apparatus has been creating the most awesome hand-printed concert posters and art prints since 1999. But don’t just believe me – have a look at a small selection after the jump.

Perfect prints: Team OLP and friends go screen printing

So a bunch of us decided to do a screen printing workshop with Toby (who is super cool) at Fittees in Obs. It’s something Prawn and I have always been interested in trying. We’ve taken books on the subject out of the library and looked at stuff on the interweb, but never got round to actually doing it. Anyway all I can say is, if you ever get the opportunity to learn about screen printing, you should definitely do it. Toby’s workshop is very good. He guides you through the whole process explaining every element most thoroughly and, you get good coffee and yummy snacks!

On the Friday before the workshop, we sent our chosen designs to Toby who created positives by printing the designs out on acetate. On Saturday, screens were primed with a chemical that becomes impermeable to ink when exposed to light, our designs were placed on the screens, and the screens where then exposed to bright light. The area of the screen covered by the positive image, stayed permeable and thus our designs were transferred onto the screens. We then chose our ink colours and got busy printing onto t-shirts, calico and paper with some really wicked results.

Hit the jump to see more photos of the workshop, and our finished prints.