a small printing project.. part two

The final stages of the printing process have been completed.  The shirts turned out great.  A clean simple design.  This was my biggest shirt order to come out of the Zerby Print Shop.  Once I got in the groove, efficiency increased and shirts started flying off the press.  It's definitely more efficient to do a large order than printing one shirt at a time, which is the whole purpose of printmaking.

The first two layers..

Registering for the third layer..

A piece of acetate (a plastic sheet) is used to line up the image..

The third layer is printed and the whole image comes together..

If you have ideas of your own for single shirts or group shirts, contact me, and together we can create the perfect shirt.  Check out other shirt designs at rebeccazerby.com or visit the ZerbyShop on Etsy.

Be Inspired. Be Bold.

peace&love

Rebecca

a small printing project.. part one

In todays world of technology and machines, I like to stress the art of handcrafted products.  I love to embrace techniques and processes that enhance the hand of the artist.  I try and stay away from computers, creating all my images by hand.  In my screen printing process I don't use the photo emulsion process, which often uses a computer to create the image that blocks the light creating the image on the screen.  I hand paint each image with drawing fluid then flood the screen with screen filler, creating the screen in which prints are made.

There is a beautiful hand quality that is added to each print that is often lost in the mass produced machine made prints.  I have found beauty in the process.  Each step is unique and important to the process.  After completing the screen, which is a big part of the process (prepping is a big part of any artwork), the fun part begins, the printing.  Just like weaving, I get into a rhythm, whipping out prints.  It's a repetitive dance, going through the motions, each time getting a little faster.  I am always looking to increase my efficiency and beat the machines.

This printing project is for a hockey tournament, one of my biggest projects with 145 shirts to print.  It took planning to get the most efficiency; From images on the screen to the order and time management of printing.  The first stages of the process from the drawing fluid to screen filler to the stack of shirts to be printed to the first layer.. shown below...

Darwing fluid.. in blue

Screen filler.. in brown.  The drawing fluid is then washed out creating the open area in which the ink passes through, creating the image below.

The stack of 145 shirts to be printed, ranging from youth XS to adult 3XL

The first layer.. doesn't look like ugh but a few layers later it will all come together.  3 layer in total.

In the end, it feels rewarding to have created something with my own two hands.  A product that someone will use and enjoy.  

Be Inspired.  Be Bold.

peace&love

Rebecca

Process.. Subtractive Printing

Subtractive printing is a fun and simple way to print using a minimal amount of screens.  It takes some planning, thats really the hardest part, but it can be a fast and efficient process.  Just remember always print lightest to darkest, largest to smallest.  Since I'm using drawing fluid, instead of photo emulsion, as the stencil, it is easier to apply the subtractive method.

Start with your largest image on the screen, shown on the left, and printed in white on the right.

Now with your drawing fluid start painting in an area.  Whatever you paint is blocking the next layer of ink and will stay white.  As you can see all I painted in was "Mud Splats".  When I printed the orange layer, "Mud Splats" remains white.

For the third layer I blocked out the lettering with blue tape.  I wanted an orange outline so I painted in around the border around the splats.  And voila! The final product.

This process starts to make more sense when you plan it out and actually go through the printing steps.  As always there is an importance to registration, make sure every layer matches up, and it take patience and practice.  

If you have any questions or comments about the process or would like your own custom shirt made please feel free to comment below or contact me at rebeccazerby@gmail.com.

Be Bold.

peace&love

Rebecca

Uff Da.. it's a Reunion Shirt

Break out the lefse, its reunion time.  Tonight starts the three day extravaganza that is the Waller Reunion.  This year two reunions fell on the same weekend, so there's a lot of love going around.

I'm happy to say that this is the batch of shirts from the PrintShop is one of the first, of hopefully many, collaboration with my Aunt.  I get my artistic gene from this side of the family and I'm happy to finally be able to collaborate on such a great project.

Who wouldn't want to be a Waller?  Get a little bit of that Norwegian blood flowing. 

This is a great picture of my Grandparents on their trip up to Norway.  Look how beautiful.

Break out the lefse anf lutefisk.  It's reunion time!

Uff Da!

peace&love

Rebecca

Next Round of Designs

Next round of designs, both shirts and coozies.  Was able to fit 4 different projects onto one screen.  Here's to planning and efficiently using space and saving materials.  

The three step process to create the perfect screen.  

Step one.. Draw your image in drawing fluid (blue stuff).. let dry 

Step two.. Fill screen with screen filler (red stuff).. let dry

Step three.. Rinse out the drawing fluid.. voila

Stay tuned for the prints from this screen!

Be Bold

peace & love

Rebecca

the Productive Print Shop

To run a successful and productive print shop you must be organized and efficient.  It it much like the efficient painter.  The same principles apply, always be doing something.  The purpose of printing is to make multiples.  Its so much fun to, once you get in the groove, to start whipping out prints.  I feel like I am a mini factory line.

I recently got commissioned for a large shirt order.  As you can see below the tall stack of shirts in all different color and sizes.  I knew this would be a challenging order but I was up for the challenge.  If you don't push yourself out of your comfort zone, you will never know what you are capable of.  

This order was for a logo for a crab shack.  In this logo is 6 different colors which translates to 6 different layers (in printmakers talk).  I had to sit down and really plan it out.  First breaking the image down into each color then determining the order in which to print.  Colors in the back are printed first and I ended with the black outline to tie it all together.

There is a method to the madness when printing.  I have a very small area in which I print and a big concern of mine was where to put all the shirts to dry.  After printing the layer I would fold the shirt so only the wet image was exposed, then lined them up as close to each other as possible, conserving as much space as possible.  Then I would pickup the next shirt and repeat.

The summer before my senior year at the University of Delaware, I did an internship with Lou Stovall.  He is a Master Printer located in Washington D.C.  He had a silkscreen studio in his garage where he created the most amazing prints I had ever seen.  So many colors and layers, it was mesmerizing.  He was also a great mentor and taught me the skills and techniques to be a great printer.  He would say that printing is a dance, move through your space in the least amount of steps necessary.  Everything is organized and in reach, act quickly and adapt to fix your mistakes. 

Its so rewarding when the final layer is printed and the whole image transforms in front of you.  Printing is a lot of work and takes time and patience to make sure everything is registered properly.  To see this great final product makes it all worth it!

Have a design of your own you would like printed?  I would love to work with you to create the perfect shirt.  Contact me at rebeccazerby@gmail.com

Also check out some of  my other custom shirts at www.rebeccazerby.com.  The ZerbyShop on Etsy has fun elephant and giraffe tanks ready to order!

Be Bold

peace & love

Rebecca

Beach Tanks

Every year for our beach trip I make tanks.  It's fun for our group picture at the end of the week to all be wearing the same shirt!  Since it's the beach I can go a little crazy with the design and have some fun with it.  Heres this years design.

I had some fun with it mixing different inks as I pulled it through the screen.  Each screen printed shirt is unique!

Here the Nags Head 2012 tank design.  I incorporated all of our favorite places into one awesome shirt!

This Crabby Tank is great for any summertime event, especially if theres crabs involved!  

These tanks are great for family gatherings or trips.  If your interested in a custom design please contact me at rebeccazerby@gmail.com and we can brainstorm and create the perfect design for any occasion!  See more of my tank and shirt designs on the ZerbyPrint link on my page www.rebeccazerby.com

peace & love

Rebecca