Its all Ric Rac here

PART 1 -Getting the screen ready for printing

I've signed up for a print swap , with  Leslies  from  http://www.lesliekeating.com/  the idea is to come up with an orginal design, print it on  fat quarters (50cm x 50cm ) and then sent it to your swap buddies.,and they'll do the same in return.

My  4 buddies are scattered over the world , which is quite exciting, now the pressure of coming up with my own design.

After much thought ,tossing and throwing idea's around, l decided "ric rac " was the way to go.

This is how  l went about creating my print.

Firstly , l printed off  2  ric rac patterns on to A4  paper as l needed 2 ,to join together, to make an A3 size design.

 

 

I joined them with sticky tape and then cut them into random strips,

layed them down till l was happy with the effect.

 

 

 

 

 

Next l needed to print  the " ric rac " pattern on to transparency film, l like to use the nobo brand, it suits either ink or laser prints, l have a brother mono laser printer,  and l always print 2 copies and lay the images on top of each other as this helps when exposing a screen as it doesn't allow any light through where the image is.

 

 

 

 

 

Now l actually needed to print 4 transparency films for my design,to give me the A3 size

 

 

 

 

Now these A4's film's needed to be joined with sticky tape (don't use opaque tape as l did , its a hard job  pulling it off and redoing it with the clear sticky tape)

 

 

 

 

l could foresee a potential problem with the opaque sticky tape blocking the exposuring process.

 

 

 

 

 

Its might be hard to see, but l layed my transparency strips on a large sheet of clear film sheet ,and taped them down into position so the design is securely in place.

 

 

 

 

The next part,  l'm just showing in the normal light, but this needs to be done in a dark room away from normal light/sun.,its probably a bit like photography exposing, l always wait for night time to do this, as l use my laundry/bath room and it has a very large window.

 

the above photo in order from top to bottom

 

 - screen with light sensitive emulsion on it ( this has been prepared earlier and has been waiting in a dark cupboard or my case the box my leg/calf massager came in !!)

- my transparency image

- exposure unit

 

These will be sandwiched together

 

l always sticky tape my image onto the screen just on a few corners ,to just hold in place.

 

 

 

 

The above is just a mock up ,as l can't take a photo of the real thing with out causing a problem of exposing my screen to the wrong light.

 

 

 

 

Now its party party time, l turn the light off in the bathroom and l use a simple yellow party globe, ,just from the local supermarket, on an old lamp, this light doesn't expose the emulsion sensitive screen to expose to soon.

 

 

 

 

The above in order from top to bottom

 

- a heavy weight (l just use a stack of magazines ,this helps keep the image flat and in complete contact with the screen )

- dark cloth ( my sons old doona cover)

- screen with the emulsion on it

- the transparency with the image

- exposure unit.

 

All set , l turn the power on my exposure unit

 

Now theres all types of emulsion available ,but the one l've been using takes about 3 - 3 1/2 mins to expose " burn " my screen

 

 

 

 

 

 

My 3 1/2  mins are up ,while still using the party light, so l can see what l'm doing , l turn my exposure unit off and quickly wet my exposed "burnt screen".

 

Once the water touches the screen the exposing stops.

 

Thats me hosing my new screen, its quite a talent to hold the hose,and getting a photo.

 

 

 

 

 

The above photo shows where l'm able to wash out the dark image of my ric rac,  that where the emulsion was not able to be exposed to the light from my exposure unit.

 

I just use a medium water pressure to wash out the unexposed emulsion, too strong and l might damge the the ''burnt'' area .( don't rub your fingers over ,it to try and help )

 

 

 

 

The parties over ,l turn my normal light on, this is when l like to hold the screen up to a light to make sure l've actually washed out the unexposed parts.

 

Now its time to let it dry, it will be ready to use the next day. 

 

 

A close up of the screen

 

 

 

 

 

l see the sticky tape caused a problem in the top left corner, its blocked some of the burning and possibly the washing the screen has removed some of the emulsion

( my emulsion is over 18 mths old ,and l 've noticed my screens ain't as crisp as they use to be)

 

 

  

  I touch up the screen with some screen filler with a paint brush, also check for little pin holes by holding up in from of a light ,these also need a touch up ( if left un touched ,the ink will seep through and spoil the image)



 

 

~ kim ~