GET YOUR CS REFILLS FROM July Black Dwarf carried an article on Poster Workshop. Here we conclude with notes on how to make your own posters.
The following notes on the making of posters are based on the experience of the Poster Workshop, rather than on any serious study. There are various methods but below are only those we have used. We have not tried photostencils, and think they would only be worth going into after the other methods have been mastered. One must always bear in mind the relative difficulties and costs of the various techniques. We interested in making political posters, and by the cheapest and quickest methods available MATERIALS Screen: never buy one. It is a waste of money. You don't have to be a trained carpenter to build one. Look at one in an art shop or college.
Most of our posters are 20" x 30". You should use a screen at least 6" larger all round LIFT BOLTS CATCHES 8/ -OCK 1. Film is transparent. Place it on top of your design, shiny side up. 2. With a sharp knife, cut your design into the top part of the film, leaving the backing sheet Intact 3. Tear away the design which you have cut into the shiny side of the stencil; this will be the part through which the ink will go through the screen onto the paper. 4. Place the film stencil, shiny side up, on the table and the screen on top of it. 5. Iron the screen with an iron at 'silk heat' so that the whole film lifts onto the screen. 6. Turn the screen over and carefully tear away the backing paper.
Green Film: we have found this the best, but the screen must be washed with diluted caustic soda before ironing it on and then rinsed with detergent. Iron through a damp sheet of paper. Brown Film: perhaps a little easier to iron on, but not as strong as green film. And it should be washed off the screen with meths. Blue Film: our experience is that the backing paper is more difficult to tear off. Dampen the screen itself before ironing.
Wash green and blue films off with water. N.B. The manufacturers also provide their own instructions for films.
MASKING When you have stuck the stencil onto the screen, all the rest of the screen must be masked on both sides, so that the ink cannot come through in the wrong places. Ordinar brown gum strip of about 2" width is chea and efficient, but must be allowed to dry before printing, otherwise it tends to come off Start along the edges of the stencil and work outwards, overlapping well. The last strips should stick well up the wooden frame. PRINTING 1. Hinge the screen onto the table 2. Stick a single sheet of paper on the table in alignment with stencil. This acts as a 'register for all further sheets 3. Put 50 - 100 sheets of paper over this register (a pile about ½" high). 4. Let the screen fall on top of them. Pour an inch wide treacle of ink along the masked out area at the hinged end of the screen Stand at the opposite end and pull a little of the ink with a squeegee towards you. Only sufficient ink to do one poster should be used each time, and each poster should be done in one sweep, with even pressure and the squeegee at an angle of 45° to the screen. If the ink is too thin it will smudge the print; if it i too thick it is a waste. 6. When all the ink is at one end, go to the other end and repeat the process If the screen leaks, patch up the under side with gum strip CLEANING THE SCREEN A. If you want to keep the stencil on the screen, don't allow the ink to dry. Dry ink will block the screen and is difficult to remove.
Place the screen stencil side down on a flat surface. Pour some screen cleaner onto a rag and wipe the screen with this until all the ink which is blocking the screen-mesh removed tear off as much the masking tape as possible. Hose down with water. Obstinate blockages can be removed by scrubbing. The water removes blue and green films and paper stencils.
Always clean rubber of squeegee with screen-cleaner or spirit while ink is wet. N.B. Make contact with your local art colleges. If you read a book, pick the shortest one EXPERIENCE IS THE BEST TEACHER. OUR SUPPLIERS I. John T. Keep and Sons, 15 Theobald's Road, London WC1. Tel: CHA 757 Bulstrode Street, London WEL 0768/9. 3. Screen Process Supplies, 24 Parsons Green Lane, London SW6. Tel: 736 8181. Obviously we cannot tell you all local suppliers Of these 3, Screen Process Supplies is the biggest and probably does most extensive delivering REMEMBER WE NEED HELP, IDEAS, AND MUCH MORE MONEY. WE KNOW WE CAN DO GREATER
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1 pi: 22. Bustrode intre, London in 1.