Tag Archives: printing

rocket, my screen-printed bike

bike

“Seems to me,” the Lady said, “a boy’s bicycle needs to see where it’s goin’. Needs to see whether there’s a clear road or trouble ahead. Seems to me a boy’s bicycle needs some horse in it, and some deer, and maybe even a touch of reptile. For cleverness, don’t you know?”

In Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon, our hero Cory gets a brand new bike.

This isn’t just any bike. This bike is from The Lady. It’s brand new and made just for him. It’s red and had a headlight, and in the headlight it has an eye that looks out for Cory. It steers him away from danger and helps him get to adventure–fast.

“At this instant I felt at one with Rocket, as if we were of the same skin and grease, and when I grinned, a bug flew into my teeth. I didn’t care; I swallowed it because I was invincible.”

So in tribute to a book I loved, and in tribute to Rocket, a bike I wish I had, I made my own. Sort of. Mine’s a bit more two dimensional.

screen printing stencil

I started with a stencil. I traced and drew and doodled until I had a bike I liked. Then I traced it onto a transparency and used a craft knife/box cutter thing to cut out my stencil.

Continue reading “rocket, my screen-printed bike”

hurricane what? (also, screen printing)

It’s impossible to write/think/breathe without first talking about Hurricane Sandy. I can’t stop looking at pictures of flooded streets and damaged houses, and I really hope people are getting the shelter and help they need. I am one of the few who is doing well at home, with the power on. I am very grateful, and very lucky.

Last week, before I even started thinking about hurricanes, I took this really fun class on low-tech screen printing at Brooklyn Brainery.

 

 

Obvs, I printed an ampersand. It’s a bold simple design and you know I love type (and I already made a stencil of it for another project.)

Low-tech screen printing was VERY low tech. Which is great! I can def do it at home with just a few more cheap tools. We used:

  • Mesh fabric
  • An embroidery hoop
  • Clear plastic overhead paper to make a stencil
  • Something to cut out your stencil
  • Ink

And that was it! To get started we made a design onto our sheet of plastic (there is an official name for it, but I forget what it is).

After we cut it out, we stretched our mess fabric over our embroidery hoop to make a screen. Then, we taped our stencil to the screen. Using cardboard for a squeegee, we smoothed ink over our stencil and printed our design! That’s all it takes. Super fun, and now that I have a stencil I can make all the ampersand prints I want.

I did some tests on printer paper, and then printed on a tote bag. I can’t wait to try more designs! And if I’m stuck in my house for the next few days, which it looks like I will be, I can think of a TON of designs to try. Got any suggestions?

Also, if you, too, are stuck in Brooklyn, let me know. Let’s hang out. And if you need a shower and some internet, please let me know and come on over.