Inside the PrintShop

Here's a look into my silkscreen printshop.  I started the PrintShop when I came home from college.  I wanted to continue printing and couldn't find a studio.  So I started making the screens and piecing everything together and in not to long a time I had a functioning print shop.  Having a print shop in my basement is very convenient because now I can print whenever I get inspired!

I use the drawing fluid method where I paint on my image with drawing fluid.  Once that is dried I fill the screen with screen filler.  The drawing fluid acts as a resist and the the screen filler doesn't attach in those areas.  When dried, I wash out the drawing fluid with water.  Whats left is the positive of the image that I had drawn.  

There are many different methods of getting the image onto the screen, the most common being photo emulsion.  That is a much more intense process that includes a dark room and then exposing the screen to light.  If and when I get a dark room I definitely want to use this technique.  For now I enjoy the drawing fluid method because it creates a softer painterly effect that isn't common in the screen printing process.

Next I organize my fabrics and inks.  It's good to be prepared and very organized before you start printing.  Once you start you want everything to move smoothly and quickly, you don't want the ink to dry in the screen.

As you can see you can print on almost anything.  I was playing around with mixing colors on the screen to create a marbled look.  When printed on different fabrics and colors the inks look different.  Printmaking is fun because since it is fairly fast, you get results almost immediately and can easily adjust to get the perfect image.

I will now take all my patterns I have printed on fabrics and sew them into new creations that will soon be sold at the ZerbyShop on Etsy.  If you have any questions about the silkscreen printing process or if you would like to see the process in action please don't hesitate to ask.  I would love to show you my print shop and explain the process in more detail.

As always check out my inspirations at my Pinterest page pinterest.com/rebeccazerby93/ and my complete works at the newly redesigned rebeccazerby.com.  Please contact me with any questions at rebeccazerby@gmail.com or leave a comment below!

peace & love

Rebecca