Printmaking 06: Screenprint – tree (preparation)

By 26th March 2008August 21st, 2018Blog

Watercolour treeDesaturated watercolour tree
The source of this print is a very quickly-done watercolour sketch made on a scrap of paper with a sponge. It was a learn-the-technique practice piece for a large watercolour painting. (The sketch, incidentally, turned out nicer than the final painting. A case of trying too hard, I think). After scanning the coloured sketch, I desaturated it in Photoshop then photocopied it using darkest settings onto a transparency to make the screen. Photocopying removed the soft grey background, leaving a stark black and white image.

I used a dark burgundy or maroon acrylic paint for the ‘under’-prints, an example of the results below. My squeegee technique needs some work. The squeegee got ‘stuck’ halfway down but the result is interesting. The next stage in this print will be to apply watercolour paint directly onto a screen and overprint the tree image. I’m trying to achieve a sort of soft sunrise effect.