PRINTMAKING
IN THIS LESSON
In our printmaking studio, we have a letterpress, screen printing, cyanotype, linocutting, gel plate printing, a lever press, and dark room photography. There’s not a ton of safety info for printmaking, just some general cleaning rules, especially for screen printing.
When screen printing, start by coating your screen with emulsion in a completely dark room. Our back room works great if it is not in use.
Use craft paper on the tables because emulsion is a pain to clean up.
Put any excess emulsion back in its container and close the lid before turning on a light. Emulsion is stored in the mini fridge to keep it good for longer. We use QX-1 emulsion from Herweck’s.
Store your screen in the dark room box. Close the box when you’re done and do not expose the inside to light in case there are other people’s screens in it.
Clean up tools when done in our utility sink. Any ink or emulsion should be wiped up before it dries.
If using the flash dryer, make sure it is off and unplugged when you are done.
Turn the light box off when you are done.
Wash out any ink from your screen right after you are done. The ink we use is not removeable from the screens if it dries.
You can use our screens, but the screens must stay here, and you must clean the emulsion and ink off when you are done printing.
Do not wash out other peoples screens without asking if they are done with it.
