What is a serigraph?
A hand pulled serigraph (or screen print) is an original work of art created in a limited edition. The final print is composed of many colour separations applied one at a time to each sheet in the edition. Each successive colour contributes to the evolving image until it is determined the print is finished.
The colours are printed by means of a squeegee forcing the ink through a stencil which adheres to a tightly stretched mesh (the screen).
There are a number of ways to create the stencil. This is an overview of the process I use.
A series of sketches are made to work out the design. Full scale drawings are created to serve as templates for making the stencil. The initial colour to be printed is determined. A sheet of clear acetate its placed over the drawing and areas required to print in that particular colour are drawn in. This ink drawing will be used to make the stencil.
...full scale line drawing
...tone drawing for "Couple on Beach"
...sketch to be used as guide for acetate ink drawing
...working out the colour
The drawing is exposed in a lightbox onto a screen which has been coated with a light sensitive emulsion. The screen is sprayed with water. The drawn areas which were opaque ink on the acetate dissolve and become open areas on the screen. The rest of the emulsion remains intact, thus creating the stencil.
The screen is mounted to the printing table, hinged at the top. Ink is mixed to create the first colour and poured along one side. Paper is placed under the screen and the ink is forced through the open areas of the stencil by means of pulling a squeegee along the length of the screen. This step is repeated for each sheet in the edition.
... ink drawing on acetate
..colour printed from resulting screen
... colour test prints...
After determining the next colour a new acetate ink drawing is made and stencil created. Again, the colour is printed on each sheet in the edition. The number of colours required and complexity of the drawings will determine how long it takes to complete each print.
Here are some more examples of preliminary work for the serigraphs on this site ;
...sketch for "Hawthorn"
....acetate drawings
...graphite sketch for"Crows over Bridge"
"Wading Pool"...small sketches
... colour tests...
"Awakening"...full scale line drawing
...line drawing for "Two Trees"
"August Afternoon"...sketches
...graphite study
...example of a blend
...watercolour preliminary
... tonal drawing
...acetate drawings
...full scale tone study
...acetate drawing
... test print
...working out colour, oil on paper
...colour study, oil on paper
...colour study, oil on paper
...acetate ink drawing
...working out some details
...test print
...a test proof
...test print
...acetate ink drawing