A little history of screen printing
When we talk about printing techniques we cannot forget screen printing , a process born centuries ago, but still extremely current because it is used by great artists, such as Andy Warhol , and because it is always of great aesthetic impact.
Some think that this technique dates back to the time of the Phoenicians and that it was also used by the Egyptians and the Greeks as early as 2500 BC. However, the first documentations ascertained date back to a decidedly later period, as we are about to discover.
Andy Warhol was among the first artists to use the screen printing technique
Serigraphy is a term that literally means “writing on silk” in Greek / Latin and its most credited origins date back to the countries of the Far East, where silk looms were already used in the 10th century AD on which the inks were passed which they left writings or graphic signs.
The screen printing modern, as we know it today, it began its history in 1910, when used, for the first time, those photosensitive films that allow the ink passage, just like it does today.
Its greatest expression is found in the United States of the 1950s and 1960s, where it is used in advertising campaigns, on billboards, and then in artist studios, such as that of Andy Warhol, who creates his famous series of portraits of Marilyn Monroe just with screen printing.
The use of screen printing
But what is screen printing used for and what are its main uses?
While once, in the east, this process was mainly used for the practice of calligraphy, today screen printing is used for billboards, billboards, drawings of various kinds and sizes, paintings and reproduction of works of art. Widely used, therefore, for advertising, this technique is useful for printing on many types of material.
Let’s start with the fabrics: on how many T-shirts, clothes, ties, sportswear, footwear, etc … have you seen serigraphs without thinking that it was the same technique born in the 10th century AD?
Not to mention plastic: from the panels to the signs, from the cork to the billboards of the subway canopies, how many are the writings and drawings you see every day, walking or driving through your city? And we can continue with the labels, decals, PVC, glass, tiles, ceramics, mirrors, bottles, vases, vials, syringes, etc…
If you have a shop, you will know that you can screen-print shop windows, displays and walls; if you have to advertise you know that you can also print large billboards; if you want to personalize your home, you know you can write or draw whatever you want on the tiles; if you work in a laboratory, you know that you can use screen printing to distinguish vials and ampoules for exams.
The process of screen printing
The screen printing is an art with a very well defined process that now analyze.
Let’s take the example of screen tshirt printing.
It starts from a frame, in wood or metal, inside which a permeable fabric of silk or nylon is laid, well pulled and possibly well cleaned with water, if it has already been used. Yes, because with screen printing it is not necessary to change the fabric every time, which becomes recyclable until it wears out too much. The fabric is pretreated so that its texture is more closed or more open depending on the parts where the ink should pass: closed texture, the ink does not pass, open texture, the ink passes, depositing on the shirt.
Immediately afterwards a photosensitive gelatin is prepared, made in part with a catalyst; after mixing it well, it is left to rest for half an hour and, if the gelatin advances after the operation, it can be kept in the fridge.
Immediately after, the mixture is spread on the fabric of the frame through a spatula called a doctor blade, on both sides, while the excess is eliminated, always with the spatula. Then, we proceed to fix the photographic film that reproduces the drawing or the positive writing. The picture is inserted in a frame that lowers and closes to spread the fabric well. At this point, a source of light and heat is projected onto the photosensitive film, which hardens only some parts of the gelatin, so those remained soft are eliminated with a jet of water, leaving only those where the ink does its part uncovered .
The amount of ink that filters and produces drawing or writing depends very much on the texture and quality of the fabric or support material, in the case of plastic material.
If the print includes multiple colors, it is necessary to use a number of frames equal to the number of shades of the design to be printed.
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