History of Silk Screening

Screen printing, more commonly known as silk screening, is a lucrative and active industry. Most commonly recognized as T-shirt prints, screen printing encompasses a wide variety of fabric prints. Virtually anything printed on fabric involves a type of screen printing. The history of screen printing is almost as interesting and diverse as the screen printing process itself.

Origins of Silk Screening

Silk screening originated circa 960 AD, in China during the Song dynasty. The method the Chinese used is very different from the methods used in modern day screen printing. The artisan placed silk between two waterproof sheets of paper. He then painted dyes onto the silk through the designs cut out of the paper. Eventually, the screen printing process spread to other Asian cultures,. Each of these cultures developed its own methods of the screen printing process.

European Screen Printing

Although the silk screening process was introduced to Europe in the 1700s, the screen printing industry did not become prominent until 1907. Samuel Simon, a sign painter in Manchester, England, invented a wooden frame with silk stretched across it. Placing a stencil on top of this screen, he was able to use a brush to push ink onto a fabric. Simon's invention became known as silk screening and birthed the screen printing process still used today.

Photographic Screen Printing

In the 1910s, Roy Beck, Charles Peter and Edward Owens, screen printers on the west United States coast, created the first photographic screen. By covering a screen with a special glue, then adding a photo-sensitive chemical, they created a screen that when positively exposed and washed would reveal a photographic image. Since then many different methods of making photographic screens have been developed. This method later became a basis for photo engraving and photo lithography.

Serigraphic Art

During the 1930s a group of artists described their new art style as serigraphy (from the Greek words meaning "silk" and "to write or draw"). This art form was essentially the screen printing process, but for artistic endeavors instead of commercial ones. The most famous serigraphic art piece is Andy Warhol's depiction of actress Marilyn Monroe. Since then screen printing has become one of the most common art forms, most notably on T-shirts and other clothes.

Screen Printing Today

Screen printing has come a long way since its Chinese origins. Modern screen printing produces thousands of commercial products every day. This is largely due to advancements in chemicals used in development, the screen printing presses, and inks, but mostly in electronic technology. By utilizing computer technology, screen printing has become a mass production effort, allowing photographic screens to be directly printed from the computer. Some silk screening presses actually print directly onto the fabric without the use of any manual labor.

References

• Custom T-Shirts Now: Brief History of Silk Screen Printing
• Nik Semenoff: Screen Printing
• Screen Web: History's Influence On Screen Printing