Remember that NBC Baby Jesus I showed you last week? Well, I printed it yesterday and boy oh boy was it fun.
I have never done screen printing and the process was completely new to me. Because of that, it took a little tinkering to master properly and the image didn't come out as good as I was expecting it would. Still, my eyes were opened to a new medium that is a lot of fun. How often do you get to point blank a power washer to the face of Baby Jesus?
If you answered "often" to that please contact me immediately. I want to learn from you.
The first print came out looking pretty crappy. It was clear I over estimated the power of water color and crayons. It's tough going to art school when you can't recall the last time you picked up a paint brush and expect crayolas to work like a sharpie.
I stopped whining and made some darker layers of color. My print was still not coming out that well but to the professor and TA's eyes I was doing everything right. After a few run troughs we came to the realization that I was a total pussy and couldn't put enough pressure on the squeegee to get a good image. Even when I pushed my hardest, shaking and nearing an aneurysm I just wasn't strong enough. I added "Screen printing" to my long list of reasons to start weight lifting.
The print came out decently.
The most fun I had was when I took the screen to the wash room. The joint is a fucking dump in the most charming way. It's dark, it's small and everything is wet. Also, somehow, you are always alone. The pictures don't do the place justice but I felt obligated to snap a picture anyway.
I hope that as the semester progresses I have some better prints to show off. I'm already thinking about my next one and have one hint: Triffids.
