Professor Harshman
ARST 2330
Beginning Screen Printing
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Screenprinting is stenciling- simple and adaptable
It is a positive process, without negatives or reverses
Screenprinting is an industrial process, reinventing itself continually with
new materials, sources and applications
It is clean- formally the most toxic medium for artists- It is now the least.
It does not have the restrictions of other media. It needs no press and
therefore is unrestricted by size.
Through the use of hand-made and photographic stencils, any image can be
transferred to any surface with any material that can be forced through a
screen and adhere to the surface that it is applied to.
Notes and observations about the nature of printmaking- and painting
“Prints unlike painting- bear the mark of their own becoming… stages of
decision and changes of the heart.” “If painting is the mysterious surface…
where all decisions are hidden in the art of making, then “the print is the
mystery revealed.”
(Notes taken from the syllabus of Master Printer/ Screenprinting Guru,
Dennis O’Neil, Corcoran College of Art & Design)
Professor Harshman
ARST 2330
Beginning Screen Printing
This syllabus is a general plan for the course; deviations may be necessary and will be
announced to the class.
Course Syllabus
1. Week OneTuesday, August 18Introduction to the course. PowerPoint on screenprints and technique. Explanation
of materials needed and course requirements.
Thursday August 20Demo on cutting paper stencils, mixing ink, tearing paper, paper registration,
printing, and clean up. Don’t miss this day!!!!
Order your screen!
http://www.victoryfactory.com/aluminum.htm
1-800-255-5335
23” x 31”, mesh 195 = $25.25 plus shipping.
You will save big money by ordering together and saving on shipping.
Assignment #1- Explore Color and Stencils- Create interesting shapes for
each stencil. In each successive color printing you will overlap the shapes
thereby producing new colors and designs. You will print 4 colors but
produce at least 6 by overlapping transparent colors. Paper size will be
11” x 14”. You will tear the paper to 11” x 15”, however, to leave room for
the registration tabs. At the end of printing you will tear off this extra inch of
paper. Edition of 3. You will also turn in a color swatch with all the colors
you printed.
**Weekend assignment- Print one color over the weekend. Mix all colors with
transparent base. Cut at least two more stencils to print in class on Tuesday.
2. Week TwoTuesday Aug 25Print 2 colors in class. Demo on signing and numbering prints.
Thursday Aug 27Critique on Stencil Prints. All prints should be dry, signed and numbered and
ready for presentation. No smudges, crooked printing/margins, etc.
Introduce next assignment. Demo on applying screen filler. Tear and tab paper.
**Weekend assignment- Read articles. Work on a design with 5 colors to
review on Tuesday. Tear and tab paper.
Assignment #2- Reduction print using screen filler and litho crayons.
Theme: Water. Water is one of our most precious natural resources. All
living creatures need water to survive, yet we are seeing unprecedented
droughts, destruction of our natural waterways and climate changes, which
are affecting our oceans.
Your image will be inspired by the following readings:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/05/04/the-dying-sea
and the EPA Aquatic Survey Report posted on ELC.
Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZvlSWSNsJw
http://watershed.uga.edu/
Think about the issues discussed in the articles and video to inspire an image
based on the general theme of water.
Paper size for the final print is 15” x 20”. Tear your paper to 15” x 22” to
leave room for registration tabs. Edition of 4 required, 5 colors not including
the color of the paper. The first three colors will be done with screen filler
and the last two colors with litho crayon.
3. Week ThreeTuesday Sept 1Review designs. Print first color. Start with your lightest color and move to the
darkest.
Thursday September 3Print in class.
**Additional Assignment- Research a contemporary (i.e.: not dead!) artist to
present to the class. This artist must use screen printing as the main medium in his
or her work. You will present a PowerPoint presentation on this artist. You will
give me the name of your artist on September 17th. Presentations will take place
on Thursday, October 22nd. Each presentation will be 10 minutes long. Bring in
your presentation on a jump drive.
4. Week FourTuesday September 8thPrint in class.
Thursday September 10th –
Critique of Water assignment. Introduce next assignment.
Demo on coating and cleaning screens. . See pg. 131-141 in Screenprinting.
**Weekend assignment- Clean and coat both of your screens. Work on your
design- 3 colors- and be ready to present it in class on Tuesday.
Assignment #3-(Copying someone else’s good idea) Re-designed Flyer
See http://cardoncopy.com/one/index.html
Find a boring, innocuous flyer around town. Take a photo of it for reference
or if there is more than one, take the flyer itself. Redesign the flyer in an
elegant, refined manner. Take into account the message of the flyer itself into
your design. You will use 2 colors, which overlap to create 3 colors in the
final design.
5. Week FiveTuesday September 15thReview designs. Demo on making films and exposing a screen.Work on films.
Shoot one screen before Thursday.
Thursday September 17thPrint first color in class. Print second color if time or expose second screen.
6. Week SixTuesday September 22ndCritique of flyers. Introduce next assignment.
Demo on printing films from the Epson Computer.
Assignment #3SuperstitionIf you step on a crack you will break your mother’s back.
It is bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding.
Bad things always happen in threes.
superstition:
1. an irrational belief that an object, action, or circumstance not logically
related to a course of events influences its outcome.
2. any belief that is not in accord with laws of science or with what is
considered true and rational; especially such belief in charms, omens, the
supernatural, etc.
For this image, think about superstitions. Do you have beliefs or fears that
could be labeled as superstitions? Are there superstitions that have been with
you and your family forever? Is there a particular childhood chant or rhyme
that has always caught in your head? If your life is free of superstition,
research the subject to find one that speaks to you. You will print at least 5 color runs for this print that incorporate all the pens
in the kit from The Loft as well as india ink to make film positives. One film
for each pen or combine them within each film. You can also generate some
of the films on the computer.
Edition of 5. Paper 15” x 20”. Tear paper at 15” x 22” to leave room for
registration tabs.
Thursday September 24thReview designs. Work on films in class.
**Weekend Assignment- Shoot at least one film to print on Tuesday. Mix ink.
Finish drawing films.
7. Week sevenTuesday September 29thPrint in class.
Thursday October 1stPrint in class.
**Weekend Assignment- Draw to scale your idea using colored pencils,
gouache, etc. Clean and coat screens. Tear and tab paper.
8. Week eightTuesday October 6thPrint in class.
Thursday October 8thCritique of Superstition print.
Introduce next assignment.
Assignment #4- Posters! Posters! Posters!
You will create a poster advertising an imaginary or real upcoming show in
Athens. We will decide as a group which band to select.
It must have necessary information in it as well as be visually stimulating.
At least 5 color runs, 3 of which must overlap at some point to make new
colors. One run should be printed on a film from the computer. It can be a
half tone, text, appropriated image, or scanned drawing.
Edition of 5. Paper size 15” x 20”. Tear paper 15” x 22” to leave room for
registration tabs.
Demo on making a half-tone image.
(See pg. 116-125 in Screenprinting for more on half tones.)
To create a halftone image- start with an image at 300 dpi.
1.
Open your image in Photoshop
2.
Size image to desired size
Go to Image > Image Size
3.
Convert your Image to Grayscale color mode
Go to Image > Mode > Grayscale
4.
Apply halftone filter
Go to Filter > Pixelate > Color Halftone
5.
Dot size should be set at the very least at 12. Experiment with
varying the size of the halftone dot to get other desired looks.
**Weekend Assignment- Draw Design to review on Tuesday. Clean and coat
screens.
9. Week nineTuesday October 13thCritique on designs for posters. Begin making film positives.
Thursday October 15thContinue working on films. Begin printing.
**Weekend Assignment- Finish all films. Shoot screens to print on Tuesday.
10. Week tenTuesday October 20thPrint in class.
Thursday October 22ndReports on contemporary artists. Each report shall be 10 minutes long. You
will turn in your presentation on a jump drive.
11. Week elevenTuesday October 27thPrint in class.
Thursday October 29thCritique on posters. PowerPoint on the next assignment.
Assignment #5- Experimental Printing
This assignment will deal with using screen printing in a non- traditional
manner. Options include three dimensional work, in situ work, and
installation work.
See work by Randy Bolton, Andy Warhol, April Flanders, Anita Jung,
Adrienne Herman, Phyllis McGibbon, etc. You will be able to work on a
variety of materials to reconstruct into the final work. For this assignment
you need to think of how the concept of your piece ties everything togetheri.e.: what you are printing on and what you print on it need to be well
thought out. In the words of the great Tim Gunn, “Make it work!”.
**Weekend Assignment- Sketch idea for experimental print to discuss on
Tuesday.
12. Week twelveTuesday November 3rdReview ideas. Begin work.
Thursday November 5thPrint in class.
13. Week ThirteenTuesday November 10thPrint in class.
Thursday November 12thPrint in class.
14. Week Fourteen
Tuesday November 17thCritique of Experimental Print. Introduce Portfolio Print.
Assignment #6- Baker’s Dozen
The theme of this print is “Food!”. Images must have 13 color runs (baker’s
dozen, get it?!) with at least 4 colors overlapping.
Each person will create an image around one of his/her favorite dishes. The recipe
will be printed somewhere on/around/in/on the back of the image incorporating
text and image into a cohesive design.
This will be our class portfolio print. We will create a simple portfolio holder for
the prints in class. Edition size- approximately 16. Paper size TBD. Critique of
this print will be at our Final Exam on December 10th. Everyone will bring in
their favorite dish to share with the class during the critique.
Thursday November 19thWork day.
15. Week FifteenNovember 23-27th- Thanksgiving!
Eat lots of great food, watch football, panic a little on how little time we have
in the semester! Get inspired for your portfolio print. Draw films!
16. Week SixteenTuesday December 1stWork day.
Thursday December 3rd- Last day of class!
Work day.
Final Critique: Thursday December 10th, 8-11am!
Critique of Portfolio Print. Portfolios are due at this time. All prints must be individually
slip-sheeted. Matted print (in white or off-white ONLY) will also be turned in.
2015/16 VISITING ARTIST AND SCHOLAR LECTURE SERIES
All lectures are in Room S151 of the Lamar Dodd School of Art at 5:30pm
Henrik Drescher- Sept 2nd
Farrah Karapetian- Sept 15th
George Scheer- Oct 20th
Other dates:
August 19th- Tour at Two- “Art Hazelwood and Ronnie Goodman: Speaking to the
Issues”, GMOA, 2-3 pm
August 20th- Panel Discussion: El Taller de Grafica Popular: Vida y Arte, GMOA,
7-9 pm
August 31st- The New Science of Learning: How to Learn in Harmony with Your
Brain, Tate Grand Hall, 6:30-8:30 pm, Lecture by Todd Zakrajsek
October 6th- midterm
October 22nd - last day to withdraw from class
October 30th - fall break
November 23-27th - Thanksgiving break
December 3rd - last day of class
December 10th- 8-11am Final exam
You are expected to go to the LDSOA lectures and contribute to class discussions on
their work. More information on these artists can be found on the School of Art
website: http://www.art.uga.edu , online and the library.
Suggested Readings:
Screenprinting: The Complete Water-Based System, Robert Adam, Carol
Robertson. Thames & Hudson, 2004 (this is the textbook for class and can be
purchased online.
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Water-Based Screenprinting Today; From Hands-On Techniques to Digital
Technology, Roni Henning
Watson-Guptill, ISBN 978-0-8230-5728-3
Printmaking; History and Process, Donald Saff & Deli Sacilotto, Holt, Rinehart and
Winston
The Complete Printmaker; Techniques/Traditions/Innovation, John Ross, Clare
Romano, Tim Ross. CollierMacmillan Publishers
Simple Screenprinting : Basic Techniques & Creative Projects, by Annie Strumquist,
Lark Books, 2004
Shop Notes on Water Based Screenprinting , Lynwood Kreneck, 1988.
Silk-screen as a Fine Art; A Handbook of Contemporary Silk-screen Printing,
Chieffo, Clifford
Printmaking Links:
www.mtsu.edu/~art/printmaking/index.html A great source of printmaking info/links
www.southerngraphics.org The Southern Graphics Councilprofessional printmaking organization, which hosts a national conference each year
http://www.squeegeeville.com/ Screenprinting info website
www.printalliance.org