An Artist is most critical of their own work

My next project was printing on a tank top for my wife with the text “Living the Dream” the title of her blog.

Again, I started to peel the emulsion sheet backing before it was completely dry, but this time I was ready for it to try and tear. I stopped myself just in the nick of time. I plugged in the hair dryer and finished drying the emulsion.

After I burned the screen I pulled the tank top onto the platen, squeezed out a nice bead of white ink onto the screen, flooded the image. I did one pass with the squeegee and carefully lifted the screen to look at the printed image, it looked weak/thin, and the white did not cover. I was expecting that this could happen so I was ready with my hairdryer and I flash dried the ink and made another pass with the squeegee. This time I had good coverage.

The issue was the material; it is ribbed 100% cotton. When I applied the ink, it flowed down between the ribs and out past the edge of the image just a bit. To me it gave a slight saw tooth effect. Not what I was after, but not objectionable either as the girls liked it.

Here is a thought I want to share. The project I just described underscores the saying “an artist is most critical of their own work”. When I noticed the saw toothed edges it seemed as though they jumped right at me, the girls didn’t even notice until I pointed it out. Even then they didn’t mind nor has anyone else who looked at the image since then. Don’t be so quick to condemn your work.

Cya, Al

Let us know about your experiences and challenges with different types of material and what works for you or didn't!