okay, I'm gonna crosspost this, I hope that's kosher...
what I am trying to figure out is how to do that psychedelic looking screenprint where one color fades into another in a series of colors... here's a really bad example of what I'm talking about because I couldn't find a picture of what I'm really going for:
www.urbanoutfitters.com/shoppi...ain.jsp
bad because they only fade at the top and there are only two colors (and I don't like the design :) but you get the picture... I am trying to figure out how the heck you do this because it's not an abrupt change in color that you would get from blocking different parts of the screen (or making multiple screens)... my girlfriend fell in love with a sweatshirt that is no longer available so I want to make a cooler, more personalized one for her with the same effect, as her birthday is the 20th. I am using your basic speedball kit and understand the basics, color seperation and all that and feel pretty confident and proud of the stuff I've already done but I can't for the life of me in my head figure out how you would get that multiple color fade... I have plenty of blank screens to burn and ink.
actually here are a few more examples of kinda what I'm talking about:
www.karmaloop.com/products.asp
www.karmaloop.com/products.asp
www.karmaloop.com/products.asp
(the last two are probably the closest to what I'm going for)
any ideas?
what I am trying to figure out is how to do that psychedelic looking screenprint where one color fades into another in a series of colors... here's a really bad example of what I'm talking about because I couldn't find a picture of what I'm really going for:
www.urbanoutfitters.com/shoppi...ain.jsp
bad because they only fade at the top and there are only two colors (and I don't like the design :) but you get the picture... I am trying to figure out how the heck you do this because it's not an abrupt change in color that you would get from blocking different parts of the screen (or making multiple screens)... my girlfriend fell in love with a sweatshirt that is no longer available so I want to make a cooler, more personalized one for her with the same effect, as her birthday is the 20th. I am using your basic speedball kit and understand the basics, color seperation and all that and feel pretty confident and proud of the stuff I've already done but I can't for the life of me in my head figure out how you would get that multiple color fade... I have plenty of blank screens to burn and ink.
actually here are a few more examples of kinda what I'm talking about:
www.karmaloop.com/products.asp
www.karmaloop.com/products.asp
www.karmaloop.com/products.asp
(the last two are probably the closest to what I'm going for)
any ideas?
posted by:
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SF Bay Area
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Re: Psychedelic Fades
Wed, May 9, 2007 - 3:24 PMSaul, this is no problem. You have one screen. You put the yellow on one end and red on the other end. You kinda mix them in the middle to make an orange and print away. Every print will be different and eventually you will want to move all the ink to the middle, clean up the ends and add some more yellow on one end and red on the other end to keep the them.
That's the way we did it in the 60s!
Bill Hood
School of Screenprinting
schoolofscreenprinting.com -
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Re: Psychedelic Fades
Wed, May 9, 2007 - 4:03 PMwhat about if you are gonna use say, 4 or 5 colors?
would the technique still work? -
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Re: Psychedelic Fades
Thu, May 10, 2007 - 4:10 PMSure. It's called "split fountain". you can play with applying the colors to the screen in various patterns or shapes as well.
The trick with using multiple colors is that eventually you'll end up with mud. No biggie, really, you just may find yourself doing alot of cleaning every few prints.
The technique takes time to get used to, but experiment with diffferent shapes, patterns and amounts of ink as well as different colors.
You can get some bitchin fire using split fountains.
Post your work when it's done so we can check it out!
-=c -
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Re: Psychedelic Fades
Fri, May 11, 2007 - 5:35 AMdefinitely will. this is gonna be a special gift so the main screenprint on the back of the sweatshirt is going to be the most important one but I'm definitely gonna be doing a bunch of experimenting with a preexisting screen before I do the final product. this actually makes a lot more sense now that I think about it and not so daunting... I just love that effect and wondered how the heck to do it without making mud from the get-go... but this sounds a lot simpler than I had imagined. the only thing I am curious as to is the squeegee, should it get cleaned every time the colors blend, or will doing it in one swipe keep the seperation cleanish and not make "mud"?
thanks guys! -
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Re: Psychedelic Fades
Sat, May 12, 2007 - 4:17 PMThe colors are blended by applying them in small amounts on the screen (all at the same time, or in sets, depending on your print), and pulling a print with a single squeegee pass. The inks will intially blend where they meet, but will combine over larger areas with additional passes, until they have been blended to the point that they are not individually distiguishable (mud). You will have to play with it to get a feel for how your inks behave.
-=c -
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Re: Psychedelic Fades
Sat, May 12, 2007 - 4:40 PMso it's a matter of getting the amount of ink right so that you can do a single pass over the screen? I'm just imagining the squeegee picking up say, yellow at the top and that mixing with the color at the other end... but is it the case that if you get the amount of ink right it doesn't matter what inks are on the squeegee for the first couple prints?
btw, I REALLY appreciate all this help. -
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Re: Psychedelic Fades
Sat, May 12, 2007 - 5:08 PMYeah, the difference is that in a normal (one color) pass you would ink up the top of your screen and pull a bead of ink all the way down to the bottom, while in a split fountain, you apply the diffferent color inks to the length of the screen (length of desired area of print, actually), usually in stripes, or waves, spirals, etc. The colors are mixed in small amounts directly over the printing area of the screen as you pull the squeegee, rather than pulled down en masse from the top.
Pull a couple dozen onto paper bags or newsprint just to get a feel for it.
-=c -
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Re: Psychedelic Fades
Sat, May 12, 2007 - 5:21 PMone more question (sorry!) - so should all of the open areas on the screen be covered in ink? I mean, no blank spots where the ink will be going through the screen, or is it stripes at the BEGINNING of where you want the stripe to start?
I am used to one-color flood pulls per screen so this is totally new to me. I'm definitely gonna do a bunch of test runs on disposable materials before I do anything I'm gonna keep - I would be testing it out right now but I realized that I have to return some ink because when I went to the store for ink they were closing early and I kinda ran in and out and have to return some acrylics that I got by accident instead of fabric ink. -
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This is the maximum depth. Additional responses will not be threaded.
Re: Psychedelic Fades
Sun, May 13, 2007 - 6:52 AMThe ink is applied over the blank areas of your screen where you want the fade to occur in your print. It's not necessary to completely cover the blank spots, as the ink will spread some as you pull it. Try at first with a few stripes of alternating colors applied vertically down the screen, leaving a small gap (say 1/4" to 1cm) between stripes. As you pull your squeegee through, the ink which doesn't pass through the screen will move laterally across the squeegee (join the bead) and blend to fill in those gaps. So, the more ink you put on the screen, the faster you'll have mud. Again, it will depend alot on the consistency of your inks and the absorption rate of your media. Play with it and you will see.
-=c
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