screen printing: a walk through

This is the process that i went through to create the hoodies for Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest from start to finish. The project went very well and i was very happy with the outcome of the hoodies. They are available at the csnw website for a steal at $30, get them here while they last.

So the image we chose for the hoodies was the drawing of missy that i made for the the art auction last october.

Once we knew which image we wanted to use i went to work trying to figure out the placement and the font to be used. The only instruction i received was that it will be a zip-up and that the image should go on the front.


Once we had the placement figured out I went to work prepping the screen while waiting for the hoodies to arrive. First a positive is created on a sheet of vellum.

The screen is then placed in the exposing unit. Light does not pass through the parts that are black and makes it so the ink can pass through. Once the screen is burned the image must be washed out.

Once the image is washed out you can print. At redskye design we have a four-color printing press but for this job we just needed 1 color. We lined up the screen with our image and then taped off the screen.

We added the ink to the screen and we were ready to print.

We did a few test prints before we started the hoodies to make sure everything was coming through correctly.

Then we started the hoodies. It didn't take long to print them all.



I had to try one on once it was completed. The hoodies came out great and fit great!

Before we knew it they were all done.

And sold out just as fast! The first printing was gone before they could be posted online but we have since done a second printing and could be doing another in the very near future if they keep selling like they do. We are very happy with the way they turned out and are happy to work with the chimpanzee sanctuary northwest. Don't forget to to pick one up here.