My First Bag

• March 14th, 2008 • 3 Comments • experiments, screen printing, sewing •

In November a friend of mine visited Japan and of course I asked her to pick up some cute webbing and ribbon I saw online at a shop she would be near. She came back with some really cute orange webbing with tulips on it and I immediately knew I wanted to do something special with it. But what? There it sat, waiting for a purpose.

A few weeks ago was our second anniversary. Michael thought I would like the traditional gifts better than the modern ones: last year I got a stack of awesome paper and this year I got a bunch of fabric. (Second year is cotton.) What to with my traditional pile of brown duck cloth? Why, attempt to make an awesome bag of course. A trip to IKEA for a cool-looking liner fabric and a few dozen more trips to the craft store for buckles, thread, zippers and rings: I got all my supplies! It took a couple of on-and-off weeks of work to puzzle out how to make my ideal bag. I loosely followed this handy guide I found on CRAFTzine (In addition to another helpful one on how to sew a two-sided strap.).

So here you have it, my first bag.

Overall it turned out pretty good, I’d say! I orignally intended to use it to replace my purse entirely, but it’s just too big for that. So, I made an accessory purse for day-to-day use when I don’t want to haul all my supplies around in a big bag. (Or when stores make me leave a big bag up front while shopping.) I re-used an old stencil for the front since I like it so much, the big weenie dog. The entire bag is padded with an old U-haul moving pad left-over from a move. I also put a piece of masonite in the bottom of the bag to add some stability after I finished sewing. The strap is double-sided with a pad (also made from U-haul padding) for added comfort.

 

Oil

• August 20th, 2006 • 3 Comments • experiments, jobs, screen printing •

*whew!*

Freelancing wasn’t paying enough of the bills, so I took on a regular 9-5 job. My time is now being squeezed like a lemon, resulting in super-concentrated evenings and weekends of doing. As one of my new coworkers put it, “What do you…NOT do?” I honestly didn’t have an answer for her.

Last night, however DID bring on a pleasant surprise. You may recall (or view for the first time) my experiments in removing old photo emulsion from a screen. Again, I had trouble getting a few spots and haze out. Anger mounting, I gave up on the acetone. While it immediately eats out the emulsion, the unpredictability of the liquid makes it hard to control. If one could have a wash-out hose filled with acetone, it would be perfect. (Well, except for the horrible smell and ghastly amounts of acetone.)

Out of sheer frustration, I thought, Aw hell. You can use acetone for toner transfers, why not wintergreen oil? They seem to weaken the same things… Thus, a speedy application of wintergreen oil made its way onto the screen. Amounts of green photo emulsion came off of areas I thought were clean! To break up the oil, I poured some Dawn liquid soap and scrub scrubbed with a toothbrush. After a quick wash-out and dry, it was perfect. Perfectly clean! Nothing! Absolutely AMAZING.

Now my only problem is actually FINDING some more wintergreen oil. I have a small bottle (with precious few drops left) purchased from a now defunct drugstore chain. Going to national chains yielded NO results; I even asked the pharmacists if they had any on hand, only to be given a blank look and a “Winter-what oil?” Looking online is even more difficult as results are crowded with aromatherapy and foodstuff results. Point of fact, the aromatherapy and “natural” joints will try to sell you PURE wintergreen oil, not the synthetic stuff. Obviously, 100% natural/homegrown oil is going to be more expensive than the man-made junk. The bottle I have was 2oz of synthetic purchased for $2.75 back in 2001 (as opposed to the fifty-five dollar half-ounce bottle of pure!!). An acquaintance of mine who does all kinds of sciencey stuff at Berkley gave me a link to a site that will sell me five gallons at once for the low low price of $165!! Yeesh! I should buy the damn stuff and sell it on my own online shop; I’ll be rich, rich I tells ya!

Ah well. This may bring on the need for finding a “wintergreen” substitute.

 

Allieviation

• July 9th, 2006 • 0 Comments • how-to, screen printing •

While combatting the mystery injury, I’ve been working on new t-shirt stencils and experimenting with screen printing some more. I found a delightfully lame piece of clip art with some 80s guy proclaiming “Paint it!” While I typically strive to create my own t-shirt art, a copyright free image that just screams to be put on a t-shirt must be obeyed. After making some modifications, I cut the stencil out on some good ol’ freezer paper and rather than use a sponge (so passé!) I liquified some brown and orange fabric paints and airbrushed the mixture onto a royal blue shirt was procured down at Wally World for $3.00 . (This worked horribly well as compared to a sponge.) After everything was dried and heat-set, I stuffed the shirt into a bleach solution and let it soak. End result? A soft, worn, thrift-store-worthy shirt with an ultra-lame design. Huzzah!

In other news, I found a delightful solvent for the screen fillers I’ve been using. Rubbing alcohol! The trauma of scrubbing and scrubbing to clean screens: gone! This method worked beautifully as an “eraser” for a screen I was working on. Just pick up a Microbrush, dip it in alcohol, gently rub both sides of the screen and poof! Mistakes can be fixed. (Though probably not so well for incredibly fine line work.) Another t-shirt surfaced while I was experimenting with alcohol and screen filler, though I do not have a picture of it yet.

Speaking of pictures, thanks to the generosity of a relative, I am now able to upgrade to a digital SLR. Kick ass!

 

$4 Pressure

• May 17th, 2006 • 2 Comments • how-to, screen printing, supplies •

A while back, I made a mod for my shower to wash out screens. Well, the whole things works pretty good, but for stubborn photo emulsion, I need more pressure! I wanted to use some sort of garden hose jet as most cheap shower heads just don’t have the blast-your-skin-off kind of pressure I want. Here’s a simple fix I did to add more power!

1) Purchased a 1/2″ to 3/4″ adapter and a ordinary garden hose jet attachment for about $4 at the store. (All showerheads are 1/2″ and garden hose fittings are 3/4″.)

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2) Screw them into existing fitting thusly, and viola you have more pressure.

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For this, there is obviously more splash-back, but I can live with that.

 

More Screenprinting

• May 2nd, 2006 • 0 Comments • experiments, how-to, screen printing •

Screenprinting has been helping me to satiate my printmaking fix; it’s been almost two years since I’ve touched an etching press! Fortunately silkscreening is horribly cheap and easy, and doesn’t require a whole lot of space. I’m sure some of the hardcore old dudes would cringe at my self-taught techniques, but hey, when you’re broke some of ‘em look pretty good!

I figured I would share some of the troubleshooting I’ve gone through (most of it last night) in hopes of some feedback or benefitting others. Back when I was messing around with a lithography press, I made a horrible mistake. See, when you’re working with a stone, you make parts of the stone hydrophilic and other parts oleophilic. Because I was new to litho, my stone wasn’t quite set up right: it was absorbing some ink in areas it shouldn’t have, and water in others. However, it was still crudely workable. My Big Mistake(tm) came when it came to running the stone through the press. When litho stones go through a press, they have a sheet of plexiglas or metal on top, covered with a line of grease to help it squeeze through the press at tremendous pressure. Whoops, dopy me, I ran a newsprint proof through with the plexiglas upside down. This means that the sensitive stone ran through the press at high pressure just SUCKING grease in. I panicked of course, but my prof came by and ran emergency stone resuscitation procedure and fixed my unfixable problem. Point of my long drawn-out story is, “It can be fixed!”

So! A buddy of mine called me up in a panic about her screen which wouldn’t let go of some diazo photo emulsion on a nylon screen. She hadn’t left it out or overdeveloped (as near as we could figure it was either mixed wrong, or a bad batch) but the emulsion stuck fast despite her using an entire bottle of diazo solvent. Hmm.

Analysis: How bad was the damage?
I’m not sure I would’ve attempted this on an ENTIRE screen but my buddy’s screen only had a few stubborn spots. I figured this was workable. We both agreed to try an all out assault at the risk of ruining the screen, seeing as how it was ruined with the perma-spots anyway.

Trial 1: Bleach
We poured straight household bleach into a tub and tossed the screen in to soak for 10 minutes. The emulsion broke up and released a little bit after some coaxing with a toothbrush. The bleach method was repeated two more times, with some success, but largely the spots stayed.

Trial 2: Mr. Clean Magic Eraser
If you don’t own one of these, get one. They’re delightfully non-toxic, require no chemicals and are surprisingly effective at getting dirt/grime/whatever out of tiny areas. We made sure to rinse off ALL of the bleach, as chlorine bleach ruins the “eraser”. Mr. Clean did a pretty darn good job at cleaning out many of the pinholes in the screen! While the eraser didn’t do enough to remove our emulsion spots completely, I definitely will be using it to clean screens in the future.

Trial 3: Acetone
After a VERY THOROUGH RINSING I opted to try alternative solvents. Down in the studio I tentatively brushed acetone onto the trouble spots with an old paint brush. Almost like magic, the emulsion released and dissolved. My concern was dissolving the screen as well, but it didn’t seem bothered. The only problem with the acetone is that it broke the emulsion down into a fine film. I figured that the photo emulsion remover would take this right off.

Trial 4: Photo Emulsion Remover
Nuthin’. Lot of scrubbing and the emulsion film stayed.

Trial 5: Back in the Bleach
SOME spots came clean, most of it stayed though.

Trial 6: More Acetone
Rather than brushing on, I set the screen down so that the actual screen touched a sheet of glass. Then we poured acetone into the middle of the screen so that it pushed any photo emulsion residue outward to the edge of the screen. Worked well! Hooray! I dabbed intermittently with an old rag to work the acetone around.

There you have it, the trials of recovering a screen! It was my concern that there would be enough residue on the screen to cause new photo emulsion or screen filler to not adhere properly, but apparently this was not a problem. I am able to happily say that with a fresh coat of photo-emulsion my friend’s screen turned out perfectly. My only regret is that I didn’t take any pictures! Ah well; this might be a project for a screen with a stencil on it I left out all last summer. Rev up yer toothbrushes!

 

More Photo Screens

• August 7th, 2005 • 0 Comments • how-to, screen printing •

Busy weekend! Some of my girlfriends and I like to periodically get together for a “Craft Day” where we make stuff. One of my friends really wanted to use the new exposure unit I rigged up, and another wanted to make candles, as she was running low. (That and I had a huge bag of old crayons.) I’ll happily go over the candle bit later; for now I’ll share how the screen unit works.

Please note that until the screen is ready to be developed and subsequently to be washed out, the room was dark.

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1) The coated screen sitting around drying. Two mistakes were made on this screen.One, the coating is uneven: thick spots have the potential to cause problems when washing out the screen. There should be a nice, thin coat so that when the image is developing it all develops evenly. The thick coat won’t develop at the same time as the thin coat, so when wash out time comes, thick areas won’t wash out!Two, I put a fan directly in front of the screen. Normally I use fans for drying everything. This time there was an unforeseen problem with the fan blowing dust and small bugs (!) onto the screen’s surface. Fortunately these didn’t land on any parts that would be difficult to fill in later on, but the bug chunks definitely cause uneven coating.

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2) Putting the screen on the unit. I have an old file box the screen sits on. Ideally this should be black, but eh, I’m cheap. This photo doesn’t show it off well but the box sits inside the screen, while the image will be placed on the back of the screen. What we’re doing here is minimizing light that comes in on the wrong side of the screen.

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3) So, what kind of image do you need? Since all we have is the cheapo home setup with 100 watt bulbs, the image needs to be 100% black on something like an overhead transparency. (A higher wattage would likely help to penetrate an image on tracing paper, but remember, I’m cheap. New bulbs would mean new lamps, and that means money!) When I say 100% black, I mean it! Don’t use your home inkjet, the ink isn’t opaque. Go down to your local copy shop and make identical copies onto three separate transparency sheets. This way you can physically layer them. (Running one sheet through typically doesn’t work well; copiers will misalign your image.)The first time, the image should be really simple. My friend had never done this before, so she picked a really simple egg-man picture. The lines are really crisp and clean, with little room for error. This way, it’s easier to see what the screen should look like in all its stages.

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4) Developing the picture my friend found. Filebox, screen, image, glass, fan. The glass goes on top of the image to keep it from moving around, and keeps minimal area between the screen and the image. (Thus keeping light from going in between it.) Rather than blow small bugs onto the screen in this step, it keeps everything slightly cooler. (Heat will develop the screen as well as light. Keep the room cool!)

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5) It done be developed! It was hard to see so in the dark, but the developing solution is actually bright green before it goes under the light. The bit that remained under the image stayed bright green while the rest turned more of an aqua color. This shot shows the “bugs” (har har, get it?) that occurred while the screen was drying. The big white spots are where the lil’ guys landed.

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6) Washing out using my snappy setup I made! The development was nice and clean; the image washed out well.

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7) Almost there, just a bit left. The screen is nice and clear. Fortunately, the “buggy” areas aren’t causing too many problems. All in all, this screen came out really well. It should be interesting to see how my friend’s image prints up.
Whew! All that work, and I don’t even get to print the screen. Humph! Guess that means I better get on top of ordering some new material for those old screens I got. Which means I need to get some money, which means I need a steady job, which means…

 

Back to Screen Printing

• June 15th, 2005 • 1 Comments • how-to, screen printing •

I’ve been working on a Father’s day present which entails shooting a photo screen. For the most part, I’m self-taught on this one, so there’s quite a bit of trial and error! Way back when, last December, I tried to shoot a screen, but could never get a good exposure from the lights I was using. So I gave up and used screen filler/drawing fluid for the project.

Now I NEED to have a photo transfer, so I NEED to learn this right. Many of the online “how tos” suggest using the all-purpose poor man’s exposure unit, the sun. My last two attempts failed miserably.

Time One: The design on the transparency was not opaque, thus the whole screen was exposed. I fixed this problem by doubling up on the transparencies.

Time Two: Conditions were perfect, it sat in the sun and should’ve exposed… Yet the design would not wash-out. I later discovered that the solution I was using would also develop in the HEAT as well as LIGHT. D’oh.

The heat problem is a major one; the average temperature in Dallas is 90 degrees. I do not believe that the screen can be outside for any amount of time during exposure if this is the case. (This includes wash-out time.) Therefore, I’ve converted the shower in the spare bathroom to accomodate screen washing! I’ve found this to be an extremely cheap and easy way to wash-out and develop screens.

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1) Go to Home Depot (or hardware store of choice). For about 15 bucks, I was able to buy these items (left to right). A shower arm and flange, a 5-ft reinforced vinyl hose and a “power/watersaving” shower head. The extender arm at the bottom I already had on hand to use, but you could get away without purchasing one. I like the extra length and swivel it adds. Remember, MOST if not all showerheads have a 1/2in pipe thread.

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2) This is your standard showerhead, in your standard apartment. 1/2in pipe, so I can attach about anything in the “Shower Section” at the hardware store. Some apartments don’t want you messing with the showerheads so they will put in some sort of gunk to keep you from removing it. By hand that is.

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3) Vise grips are your best friend. My showerhead was extra tight, so these were required to get it off. I kindly purchased some silicone tips so as not to ruin the apartment’s showerhead. Removing the head is the only part of this endeavor that will require some sort of tool. Oh yeah, I should mention the tub needs to be dry so you don’t slip and bonk your noggin.

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4) Attach the swivel arm. Again, I like the movement and extra length it affords the hose. These things cost about $15, so it can easily double your shopping trip. I’ve had mine stashed away for years trying to figure out what else I could use it for…

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5) Connect the hose. If you want to get fancy, you can buy a metal hose, or spend some more dough and get a longer hose. I found this plastic one for $5 on sale. No tools needed for setup!

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6) Screw in the flange arm and the power showerhead to the other end of the hose. The flange arm acts as a converter piece so you can hook up the hose with the head. Most hoses are built to accomodate fancy shower massagers, not standard showerheads. The flange also doubles as a nice handle for your hose. Some power showerheads have a “soap up valve” which you can use as a water cutoff instead of having to turn the water on and off all the time. I saved $2 to get a power showerhead without, but should I ever want one later, I can purchase a valve separately.

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And there you have it! You now have your very own screen-washer-outer. That’s really the only part I figure I’d give some step-by-step on, since some folks are scared of anything plumming-related. It’s easy, really!Down below, I have a nice photo of the entire bathtub setup. I will point out that the tub should NEVER be filled with water for this setup, as you have several electric appliances hanging above. Not responsible if you have no common sense!

1) The shower curtain rod was lowered roughly 40in from the rim of the tub to accomodate the lights, which have 100W clear bulbs in them. I realize many home kits recommend the light being 12 inches from the screen, but some developers develop not only develop with light, but also with heat. The reflective surface of this particular bathtub helps to make more light w/out heat, which is handy.

2) I stole a board from a melamine bookshelf and put it across the tub with a box on it for developing. (I know, everything’s white, it’s difficult to see.) The board can easily be moved when it’s time to wash-out the screen.

3) The fan I use for drying screens, and to help circulate air in the room so that the screen does not get hot. Lucky for me, this tub has an air vent practically above it!

There you have it. I took this baby for a test-run the other day, and it works like a dream. No more developing out in the heat, no more waiting for some guy to finish using the communal carwash hose so I can wash-out. I’ll probably make a few modifications as I use it more, but this appears to be a great cheap cheap method that doesn’t actually damage the bathroom or require major rennovations.

 

New Printing and Old Photos

• November 20th, 2004 • 0 Comments • photography, screen printing •

Contrary to popular belief, I actually have been down in the garage working on art! My screen printing endeavor is going fairly well. Using drawing fluid and screen filler is devastatingly easy, though I have not done as well using the photo emulsion. I figure it could be three problems: 1) the photo emulsion and sensitizer are old. 2) my inkjet printout on denril is not solid/translucent enough to make a good exposure. 3) I am not exposing long enough with the lightbulbs I am using. Photo screen problems aside, I’ve made several solid prints on paper, as well as one on fabric. I’m pleased with all of my test results, and can’t wait until I am satisfied enough to get started on an edition of some sort!

Oh dear, speaking of editions, I really wish I could edition my prints I did in Scotland now. Last week I stopped by UNT and visited with both Justin Quinn and Catherine Chauvin, my former teachers/bosses. To my pleasure, I recieved high praise from both of them when they looked at my APs. The local community college is literally across the street from me and I have resolved to visit with the print teacher over there and see if I can buy some shop time. I very much wanted the Scotland prints to be an edition of 30 or so; this appears to be the best way to do it.

In art-related news, I am working on archiving the family fortune: scanning several thousand photographs, many dated back to the 1800s. My Uncle is the family historian, and has almost all of the family portraits and photos. Well, far be it from me to allow him to horde them all to himself! I believe that it is something of a rariety for a family to have such an enormous collection of visual history available in one place, especially with an historian that can identify 90% of the persons in the photos. Therefore, I am digitizing everything. Everything. I realize that this is an enormous undertaking, but firmly believe that the results will be well worth it. Who knew my job in the school slide library would be of some use? In addition to scanning and forcing my Uncle to type down whatever he knows, I am transferring many of the pictures to proper albums. Sadly, many of the photographs are in viciously acidic albums that are falling apart. (Yes, I already chewed out my Uncle.) The only thing I am unsure of how to handle is the old albums into which photos were glued. The acid in the paper is eating away at the photos, but there is no apparent way to separate the two. (Hence one of the reasons I am scanning them!) Surprisingly, some of the old photos are actually tin-types! Most of these are in very good condition; I am completely unaware of what sorts of factors could cause them damage, other than the obvious scratching or moisture. Here’s to good luck safely archiving and finishing the project!

 

New Printing!

• November 8th, 2004 • 0 Comments • screen printing, supplies •

Well, I went ahead and ate the cost of getting one of those starter kits for screen printing! It was about $44 for the cheapest kit, but it came with a screen, screen filler, and some other stuff I’ll apparently need. I’ve seen screen prints done before, both by hand and with a machine setup, but I’ve never actually tried to make them myself. THIS should be a little adventure! My need for reproductive art is great, as I mentioned in a previous post. Why starve myself when I have the opportunity to learn something new AND continue to make prints? I have no idea. Hopefully $44 will bring me some satisfaction.

The studio got a little upgrading as I recieved 1) Michael’s mother’s old easel and 2) Michael’s old drafting table. I’ve never actually owned an easel before–though I suppose you could technically count the collapsable art-box traveling easel I got many birthdays ago. Michael’s mother’s easel stands about seven feet high, and has a rest for both small and large paintings. Very nice! I can’t tell you how grateful I am to recieve such nice supplies. Especially the easel; I usually paint with my canvas/board/whatever flat on the ground. However with studio space at a premium, an easel really helps to clear up some space. Time to put all of those new supplies to work!