Screen Printed T-Shirts

Purpose:

To be introduced to the process of screen printing;

To create a simple design that uses a variety of shapes which emphasize the interaction between positive and negative space;

To demonstrate the process of screen-printing by printing designs on paper and fabric.

Reflection:

I learned a few things throughout our activity of screen-printing.  First, I learned that the more complicated the design was, the more time it would take.  Obviously, this is something that makes sense regardless, but I didn’t get to feel the pressure of time until I did it for myself.  My sailboat design had more classic geometric shapes that were easy to cut and trace.  My pumpkin, which was more complex, was harder to cut because the lines were closer together. Also with my pumpkin, I had a few “attached floating” objects which represented the lines of the pumpkin.  This was difficult to cut and trace because they were small.  Next, I learned the importance of having positive and negative space.  The sailboat design had less contrast of space while the pumpkin design had more contrast of space inside the figure.  By having negative and a positive space on the t-shirt, the viewer has more interest in the design.  Finally, I learned a very important technique when doing the actual screen-printing process.  If you don’t use the silk-screen for an extended amount of time and then use it, the ink doesn’t show up as well on the fabric.  To fix this, I had to do the screen-printing on paper first so that the ink would get soaked in again.  

These are important to my learning as an Art/Graphic Design student because the whole project uses different art techniques that are useful.  Composition, use of positive and negative space, creativity, and precision all are aspects of art that help me as a student to continue to work better.  Each of these elements played an important role during the screen-printing process and will continue to help in further projects.