Wavey Silk Screen

TECHNIQUE

1.Place the silk screen bright side down on your surface.

2.Put a line of paint along one edge (Heavy body acrylic in a tube is best).

3.Spread the paint across the stencil with a squeegee or old credit card.

4.Remove the stencil by lifting it up on one side slowly.

5.Repeat this action in order to screen another image quickly or put the screen in cool water.

Ensure you clean your screen immediately after use in cold water. Do not allow the paint to dry on your screen.

The most common way to use in contemporary earring making is rolling out a slab to finished depth, using the silkscreen & acrylic paint straight onto unbaked clay then cutting your shapes as usual before baking.

STORAGE

Store stencils flat, do not fold or bend. May be stored in zip-lock bags or a box.

POOR PRINTING - CAUSES/SOLUTIONS

Paint bleeding under silk screen

•Paint not thick enough. Try using a thicker paint.

•Silk screen not making good enough contact with surface being painted. Try using silk screen adhesive spray. Surface being painted is too uneven. Try cutting silk screen into smaller pieces for a better fit. Taping down may help.

•Too much pressure applied to paint brush or spatula. Use less pressure paint not going through.

•Dried paint filling up mesh. Try cleaning silk screen (see above) before proceeding.

•Paint is too thick. Paint contains pigments or speckles that are too large to fit through mesh.