Playing with colour in preparation for printing?
After I have tried my best to align the layers of my image, I wanted to think about what kind of colours that I intend to print with and also what kind of paper too. I was mainly thinking about some colour ideas for now and paper I can think about at a later date. Photoshop also seems to me like a great source to play with colour on an image and I was basically having a lot of fun just playing around with colour to see what I can roughly expect when it comes to printing the image.
How is this process relevant?
I think that this part of the process can be extremely important because when I see the different colours on my image it can give me a rough idea to what I can expect to happen once all the layers are printed. Instead of wasting ink trying to play with different colours in printing, I can think of this process as playing with colour on photoshop instead so that I am not wasting inks and also I can see what to expect before actually printing my image.
I have also played around with adding objects to his face such as sunglasses, a gold tooth or a cigarette to reflect the modern wealth of China culture that it is today but all these are just ideas and are not my final looking images. I am always looking forward to the final result yet to come and photoshop gives me a rough idea on how my images may look and is the best way to see a future image, especially if you are a silkscreen printer.
When roughly will I be able to start printing?
Until my Acetate sample comes I cannot do anything else but maybe a little more research into artists and maybe I will do more experimenting if needed. I hope to start my printing process by at least the end of next week because of waiting for my sample acetate and if that works out then I will have to wait nearly another week for the actual A2 acetate sheets to arrive. Once all of this is sorted out, I can then begin my printing process of my Chairman Mao.
What is the latest updates with my Chairman Mao image?
This afternoon I have been working on the definement of my layers ready for printing. I wanted to make the effort in making sure that the layers of my Chaiman Mao image are well aligned with each other. When it comes to printing them out onto Acetate, it is very crucial to me that none of the layers will overlap each other but only if it is intended to.
How am I going to make sure these layers are well aligned?
Well… Using photoshop is the most easiest but perhaps the bestest way for cutting out layers and arranging them ready for printing for screen printing. It was not easy but I have managed to cut each of the layers out of an original Chaiman Mao image successfully. Now… I just want to make total sure that all of these different layers are well aligned and not overlapping each other but only if some are intended to overlap.
Were there any problems that I faced with these layers?
I would say that there were some tricky parts but the most problem that I had was working out if I should print the main colour of his face first or do his main chest and hat colour first. The problem I have is making sure the face is in perfect alignment with the rest of the body and then once I have printed the last layer it should bind all the other layers together which will be the black outlines of his whole face and body.
My video will explain further detail with what I was trying to do this afternoon, enjoy!
What has happened to my Acetate sample?
Yes thats right… my acetate did not show up for the third day going but I certainly know why. Today I ring my supply dealer to say that I did not receive my sample yet and he said to me that my Acetate sample did not reach his store yet. His other dealer did not send to him in good time so he has had to wait for my materials to come to him and I have had to wait for him to send me the acetate, sigh….
So now I will just have to wait until Friday at the very latest hopefully to receive the Acetate sample to experiment with and with any luck after all of this, it will finally workout for me in the end.
What can I do in the mean time?
I guess what I will just do now is some further research into my own work and maybe some artists too that may well inspire me. I will have more of a play around with my images just to make sure that they are spot on and well aligned so that when it comes to printing the layers they won’t overlap each other. I will make sure that I can perfect my layers more within my chosen images and this will benefit me a lot when it comes to the quality of the printing process.
What is the update on my printing materials?
Today I did not go into university today because I wanted to wait at home purposely for my A3 size Inkjet Acetate sample but it did not show up at all today!… I felt a bit let down thinking that the dealer said to me it would arrive either saturday or monday at the latest but never showed up. I felt also a bit frustrated when I have to keep hanging it out day after day for materials or waiting for someone like a technician to help me.
To me it feels as though my work is extremely complicated to make because of waiting for stuff all the time and trying to find the right dealers for the right materials. Could it be a big ask to wanting to make a larger scale screen print? why must we all people as printing artists be limited to what we can use all the time? This really bothers me alot and I wish that I can be more free to being able to make any size print with any type of materials available for a short sum of money in this world. But we cannot get hold of the things we want all the time or when we want them at least most times…
How will I think about getting through this problem?
I am thinking of either ringing the dealer again just to make sure he has posted the Inkjet Acetate sample or I should wait at home another day to see if it will come tomorrow but right now it seems a bit unpredictable. Right now I guess my mind is telling me to wait patiently for one more day to see if it will come tomorrow. If the Acetate sample does not come then I will ring him to see what he has done with it. fingers crossed it will come in the end as I really need to get started with my printing experiment soon. I am counting on this experiment to change the way I will print forever!
What Experiment is this?
Well… I wanted to think about expanding my creativeness within my printing by printing in a larger format size instead of thinking about the A3 size scale that I normally work in. If I have the chance, I prefer to work onto Acetate so that I can transfer any type of pattern or image that I want to use within my printing and then screen printing it. I always expect great results from my printing strategies and ideas but sometimes finding materials and using them can be a bit of a problem for me…
Is it impossible to get hold of A2 or A1 size cheap single Inkjet Acetates anywhere?
So I began searching online through a considerable amount of online shops that sell Inkjet acetate in a larger size of either A2 or A1 size and I could say that this was not easy task to do. I looked and looked and I ringed and ringed company after company to see if they sold A2 size acetate but all I got was a no and even the business owners themselves did not know how to get hold of it! I was like… this has to be an impossible piece of material to get hold of.
So how will I be able to pursue my art ideas now?
So yes I felt quite frustrated about this and at the end of this dark tunneled moment there was hope in the end! Just one last company to see if he sold A2 size Inkjet acetate and this guy also said no. but… Then I asked him if I could phone his dealer to see if they would supply me some larger scale acetate and he said he would phone up his dealer instead. He phone up his dealer to see if they could supply me some A2 size Inkjet acetate. The answer was… yes! :)
The shop owner said that he would be able to get some A2 Inkjet acetate delivered to my address and have to order at least 30 equivalent sheets in order to get hold of some. So I said to him to send me an A3 size sample of acetate to see if it will print nicely on the UCS Inkjet printer in the printing room. Now all I have to do is wait until I can receive it either on monday or Tuesday and see how well the acetate will print out. fingers crossed that this will work out for me in the end!
