Evaluating My Screen Printing Samples...

 

1. Heavy Viscose Satin. In my past experience, printing on top of satin isn't fully visible when using normal pigment. Unfortunately  I didn't realise we had special pigment called permaset which sits on top of the fabric instead of soaking into it. I decided to use puff binder mixed with black pigment ink to create a 3D screen print effect. When I heated the puff binder up the black turned into grey because it goes lighter. This was unintended but it still looks quite good against a soft pearly blue background. 

2. Heavy Viscose Satin. I did the same technique with this sample and again the black turned into a grey colour, unfortunately there was a line running through the image, this is because part of the screen wasn't covered fully in emulsion and I forgot to cover it up using masking tape. However I still think this sample turned out well and the grey looks really effective and contemporary against the fuchsia pink background. I like using heavy viscose satin because when you dye it, it has a beautiful shimmer to it which looks really nice.

3. Cotton. This sample went a bit wrong because I didn't realise that puff binder doesn't really print very well on top of permaset pigment. This meant that the puff binder bubbled up and ruined part of the design. However I really like the colours on this design altogether because the background is quite subtle and compliments the other colours.

                                             
     4. Cotton. This sample is quite strong for the background and again the puff binder bubbled up. The screens didn't really line up correctly but it looked quite effective because the colour came through the other layers. I like the strong turquoise colours against the strong pink background.

5. Cotton. This sample went wrong because I didn't wash my screen straight away meaning excess pigment from the previous print smudged in other areas of the print. The pink didn't print in line with the other screen at all and there was smear marks allover the print from the blue screen. Overall this wasn't a very successful print.

 6. Cotton. I really like this sample because I love the ocean turquoise colour. The blues and pinks are very vibrant and I like how the prints overlap. On this sample some of the pink didn't print properly because the screen had too much pigment on it, therefore I had to hand paint some pink onto the faded areas. Only problem was the pigment dried quite thick.

 7. Heavy Calico. This sample is on plain calico, I like this design because it was very easy to do and the blue stands out against the beige colour. If this was a print on a big piece of fabric repeated it would look effective. The simplicity really stands out because the background doesn't draw your attention away from the actual print.

8. Heavy Calico. This is my least favourite sample because I only used one screen rather than having another colour within the main screen. This print is quite boring in my opinion. If I could do it again I would add another colour within the main screen possibly a contrasting colour to make it stand out.

 9. Cotton. This sample didn't print well at all, the ink smudged quite a bit and the empty spaces need filling. Overall this sample isn't successful because I didn't wash my screens straight away meaning it picked up excess pigment off other pigment colours.

10. Heavy Calico. I quite like this sample because the shades of blue were quite similar in colour meaning it was quite a subtle beautiful sample, but still visible to differentiate between. However the colours don't really fit in with my colour scheme. This sample printed slightly better but I had to hand paint some of the pigment in the faded parts of the design.

11: Medium Calico. This sample is similar to the previous sample but just lighter in colour. This didn't print brilliantly because the screens didn't line up properly and some of the printed colour wasn't sharp enough. As an experimental sample I don't feel it turned out too bad.

12. Cotton. On this sample I completely messed the lining up of the screens but strangely enough it turned out quite good because the messed up screen added more pattern to the print (blue Pigment) sometimes mistakes make the best prints and that is a lesson I have learned from many of my samples but recreating those mistakes isn't so easy.

13. Devore Velvet. This is one of my favourite samples because the pattern shows up beautifully from where the fibers have been burnt away. Once the paste had naturally dried I put it on the heat press for 20 seconds and then I washed away all the fibers revealing the pattern. I then added procion dye to the velvet which looked quite dull at first. I then realised after letting it dry if you put it back on the heat press the colour shows up shimmering and stunning from the vibrancy of colour in the fabric.

14. Devore Velvet. This sample looked really effective with the strong turquoise colour but unfortunately the devore paste went through part of the screen that wasn't coated in emulsion properly meaning it left a big line through the print. However the rest of the design is really pretty.

15. Heavy Calico. This sample was a bit of a disaster at first because the fabric wouldn't flatten properly because of the batik background, so when it came to printing with permaset pigment it smudged quite badly. To resolve this issue I decided to make the background really busy so it was full of pattern. I then decided to print puff binder on top to make a clearer image, however I remembered that puff binder doesn't work well on top of permaset pigment so it bubbled up slightly. The more I look at this larger sample the more I like it, its quite Gothic and stylish at the same time.

16. Heavy Calico. This was just an experimental sample that I ended up liking a lot because it was a layered print consisting of black, blue and pink pigment. However instead of leaving it I decided to add another layer to it by adding turquoise, this slightly ruined it because the patterns on this print were no longer clear.

17. Heavy Calico. This sample was fairly simple to do and looks quite effective. However if I was to do it again I would use permaset pigment pink rather than normal pigment pink because the pink is slightly too bright and the colours look cold and harsh together.

18. Medium Calico. On this sample I really liked the warmness of the colours combined. I like how the blue overlaps the pink bit of the print making it look a navy blue rather than a turquoise colour. The overall effect of this print looks really girly and would look great in a young girls bedroom.

19. Heavy Calico. This sample didn't go very well because the turquoise screen smudged quite a bit. Making the print slightly messy, however I like the combination of colours against the plain background because you can see the detail of the patterns clearly.

20. Medium Calico. This sample I quite liked at first because the colours were really unusual together against a fuchsia pink background. I tried to print another layer of black on top of the other colours but this made it look really messy so I quickly rinsed it under water to get rid of the black and somehow it worked, and I got my original print back. I then heat pressed it after it was dry to secure the colour.

21. Heavy Calico. I like the combination of vibrant colours on this print but again the screen didn't line up properly and the turquoise pigment smudged because I didn't wash my screens often enough. I also had to hand paint parts of the print where it hadn't printed properly Because it gave a faded appearance to the print.

22. Scrap Material. This sample was really easy to print because it was on a really thin scrap piece of yellow cotton. In my previous experiments I've realised that printing on cotton works better than calico because pigment sits on top of the fabric better or soaks into it better. I also really like the black and bright pink on this sample because it stands out strongly.

23. Heavy Calico. I like how the background colour has hints of lilac and baby blue peeping through the black and pink patterns. This background was really easy to do because as soon as I dyed it I washed away the colour straight away. This gave the fabric a hint of soft pastel colours which I really ended up liking.

24. Heavy Calico. The background on this sample is slightly too dark because the pink pigment is quite difficult to see. I should have used permaset pink which would show up really bold on top of the fabric. I also printed the screens completely out of line but strangely it looks quite effective with the subtle colour showing through.

25. Heavy Calico. This sample would be great for a furniture covering because of its subtlety but not as an exhibition piece because the colours are quite dull and too dark. It didn't print very well and I feel it would have looked a lot better if I had a really bright contrasting colour so that some of the detail could stand out better. 

26. Heavy Calico. This is my favourite sample because all the colours together are bright in colour and happy. The shades of orange and yellow give a different appearance all way through the design which looks really nice. The pattern stands out perfectly so I've decided to use this  sample for one of my final pieces but on a larger scale. I will be producing three panels of different printed calico using various dyes, techniques and screens.