Silk Screening in (the) AIR

Mandy and Val inking

Thursday evening, just after 6pm, Val taught Mandy, Matt S, Matt M and Doug the basics of silk screening at the AIR studio on the Northside.

Val brought the HackPittsburgh logo art in two sizes, the paint/ink, and the know-how. AIR provided the space, the framed screens, and misc. materials. We all brought T-shirts, hoodies, etc. Matt and Mandy brought a dog sized shirt as well.

Silk-screening is a fairly straightforward process: Put your shirt/paper/whatever under the screen, squeeze the ink through the screen and remove your finished art!

It’s not as strenuous as Mandy and Val are making it look :-), they were working with a thick ink on a thick (doggie) shirt.

AIR has a really convenient space and staff that simplifies the process: Bring your B&W art on a transparency, and for $5 they make a screen that you can use as much as you want all night. And you can make as many screens as you want, within reason. Their silkscreen shop/studio is open to the public Tuesday and Thursday nights from 6-10pm.

It seems simple, but there is technique involved. Val shared her experience and tips so we were able to produce nice results on our first tries: We learned how to process the screen, where and how to tape it, how to set up in the provided rigs, and how to do the inking without getting ink everywhere. You will get ink somehwere(s) and AIR does provide aprons and paper towels, but I wouldn’t wear good clothes, just in case.

Thanks Val!

Close up of the small logo on a T-shirt pocket (4