And It Only Took 8 Months...

Once upon a time I proclaimed that I was soon going to be making t-shirts. Soon was a huge understatement. The photo emulsion I ordered worked like Elmer's Glue, it just washed out with water and wouldn't stay in place after being exposed to light. Yeah that probably doesn't make any sense but I wasn't going to waste time trying to figure out how to use the sun. I like the flexibility of using a halogen lamp. As I sat pondering what to do about the terrible emulsion I did find another kind online. I'm glad I didn't buy it because it makes a permanent stencil. I somehow randomly caught that bit of info after looking over the same product many times. A few weeks ago I bought a kind that is more similar to what I have used before. I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

Last week in the middle of making my second stencil my lamp broke so I had to wait once again to actually get to making a shirt. Before that I had done a test stencil that still was washing out a little too much. Oh the joyous frustration of working with new things. In the world of screen printing or silk screening there is a learning curve with any product change. I miss the access to cheaper materials back home. It's what kept me from getting into this sooner.

Today brought much better success. I was finally able to make a suitable stencil.





Don't tell the North Central company I stole their design. But maybe if they didn't charge 3000 yen for a t-shirt I would be more likely to buy one. At least that is what I thought when I was in Hokkaido last winter. Sweet shirts with a price that made me want to vomit. It might be wise to open a black market and profit off cheap skates like me. I actually just wanted to make a shirt and this happened to be an easy design. If you are totally uninformed about making stencils just remember it's magic and nothing else. Yes, pure magic. Then with a few waves of your hand, some ink, and a squeegee the impossible happens. Oh the glamor of it all.


 


I was rather pleased given my interesting use of paper and canola oil for exposing screens. The details were pretty spot on. I think this one looked the best.





I mean it looks best on me.