Silkscreens on wood ...Grrar.

I've been wanting to experiment silkscreening with different mediums. I like the texture of sanded maple and wanted to see how well it worked with screening. The verdict: it works gorgeously. This is a three color, acrylic on maple. Two of the colors (red and blue) are screened on, the third is a white splatter of thinned gesso, with the splattered brushstrokes making each an individual piece. As it was a test-run, I only planned to make a few, I decided eight would be good. I expected maybe half of the run to come out like shit. Except for a bit of mis-register, and a small (admittedly cool-looking) color bleed on #1, the series came out great. In fact, I might like #1 the best.

The acrylic is a basic house paint, with a little bit of Floetrol, and some out-of-the-tube Windsor & Netwon acrylic mixed in to adjust the hue. Floetrol extends the moisture of the paint. Ask for it at a paint store, Home Depot and Lowe's won't carry it.

This mix dries really quickly, cleans up quickly and has no chemical smell. Because it dries quickly, you have to make sure you keep your screen flooded in between pulls, that's easy to do, and the benefit is that you can put down two layers of one color without needing a flash-dryer. I was able to easily put 2 layers of red on these. It wasn't necessary on the blue. This method is not for t-shirts nor anything else that goes in a washing machine.



Sorry for the quality of the cameraphone. Better pics to come. If you're interested, you can pick up one of these at the Help for Haiti benefit next week at the Lucky Dog.

EDIT: As promised. I brought one home tonight for a sexy portrait on my couch. 12x18".