Screenprinting @ Polluted Eyeball, Brooklyn

On the press, and ready to Rock and Roll!

   Saturday 1/23 -- My good friend Jennifer and I made a hike out from the Island to Brooklyn for a 3-hour Basic Screenprinting class @ Polluted Eyeball, instructed by Peter McGouran. Many thanks to Living Social.*

     The studio was a medium sized space for our class of 7 students, and the walls were decked with colorful posters, prints, fliers, and post cards of various bands, rappers, celebrities, music festivals, personal work, and photographs. Though they covered every wall up toward the ceiling (making the room feel even smaller), it was an impressive display of a truly great body of work.

My original design, a metaphor of "voice". Made with one continuous line starting and meeting again at the back of the head. Many thanks and eternal gratitude to Professor Kathy Reba.*

  We provided our drawings/designs to the instructor via email, which were then printed onto transparent acetate paper on-site at the studio. Our mesh screens were prepared, applied with light sensitive emulsion, the acetate paper and screens were then exposed to light, and when rinsed with water, the dense lines of our drawings washed away on the screen, which could then be exposed to ink on fabric.

The light-sensitive emulsion is pink. The black lines of my design "broke down" the emulsion (since light could not get through and harden it), and when rinsed with water, the design gradually appears. It was like MAGIC! See it?

    The screens were taped in the corners and edges with packing tape, making sure to leave a 2 inch border all around the image. This will prevent any unwanted colored ink going through the screen. We put our shirts in place and positioned to liking. At the base of the screen, a few spoon-fulls of ink were applied and dragged across the image with a squeegee and consistent pressure at a 45 degree angle (2 or 3 passes over with the ink, just to make sure the lines would be deep and bold). Hold a corner of the shirt, and lift the screen, and VOILA!! We had a Graphic Shirt!

Jennifer (Graphic Artist) and I (Manual Artist). What a great sight and feeling to have our designs printed onto clothing. Walking billboards for our work!

POLLUTED EYEBALL SCREENPRINT STUDIO

56 Bogart St., Ste 212, Brooklyn NY 11206 - 917-627-9931

www.pollutedeyeball.com

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