screen printing 101. class is now in session.
i know… it’s been awhile since i’ve posted on here. this is meant to be a place where my thoughts can be let loose. but preparing for going on tour has taken up all my time and mental energy. so now that i’m officially on the road touring, as of april 1st, i can finally start regularly updating this. partially for the entertainment of others, partially for my own sanity.
lets start back in gainesville, almost a month ago, with screen printing 101.
i needed to find a way to make money while on the road. gotta pay for that gas to get to the next show right? not to mention the occasional bite of food. so i needed merchandise to sell. two albums, some stickers, button pins & magnets. easy enough. but what about t-shirts? it cost so much money to have t-shirts printed, even if by a local company. so how about i print them myself? screenprinting can’t be that hard right?
first things first is pulling off the old screen on the frame you borrowed from a friend.
then you stretch the new screen with a staple gun handy. kinda like stretching canvas.
i’ve got a lovely bunch of stretched out screen, diddly dee. there they are standing in a row, bum bum bum. big ones, small ones, ones as big as your head….
next you find yourself a sam. sam’s are easy enough to find. they’re friends named sam who know how to screen print already. they’ll show you the ropes the first time around.
dark room fun with emulsion. for burning up the screen. emulsion is light sensitive.
at this point, we have to take an ice cream break (says sam’s son). hey, screen printing is hard work…
back at the presses on my own. time to push through some envelopes and shirts.
the first shirt! i’m so proud.
i also made patches 🙂
easy enough. now i have some great shirts and patches to sell on the road!
-marc
p.s. i want this sink