How to Print Black & White Photos on Canvas Pop Art
Printing black and white photographs to canvas is a common motif of Pop art, exemplified by the work of Andy Warhol. Warhol's canvases with silkscreened photographs of Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy, the death chair and soup cans commented on the rise of mass media, consumerism and celebrity that characterized the American post-war era.
With a photographic silkscreen, you can print the photograph as many times as you want on a canvas, paint over it or print more images. Though the process is relatively simple, it does require time, some special equipment and experimentation.
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Things You'll Need
- Silkscreen
- Emulsion
- Photograph
- Copier
- Mylar
- Black silkscreen ink
- Tape
- Fill bar (also known as a "floodbar")
- Canvas
Instructions
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Coat the silkscreen with photo-sensitive emulsion. Keep the screen and emulsion in an area with little light exposure--dim light is fine, but if you can try to do this in a dark room with red 15-watt lights and good ventilation.
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2
Copy your photograph onto a sheet of transparent mylar--this is easily done with a copier machine. Tape the mylar onto the screen, and place the screen in a brightly lit area. The light will harden the exposed areas of the screen. If you're using an exposure unit this won't take long; but if in a brightly-lit room let the screen sit for a few hours. The necessary exposure times depend on the thickness of the emulsion so you may have to experiment a bit.
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Wash out the screen in a sink or with a hose. The areas left unexposed will wash off with the water--and it is these areas that will print onto the canvas. Take the screen to your printmaking area, which should have a smooth washable surface to lay out the ink and a separate area to print the silkscreen on to your canvas.
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Tape around the edges of the screen to prevent ink from bleeding around the edges. Tape down the canvas onto a clean surface and place the screen over the canvas.
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Place ink in a thick and even line across the top of the screen. Position the fill bar behind the ink reservoir. Pull the fill bar acorss the silkscreen, pressing down to force the ink through the unemulsified areas and on to the canvas. Lift the silkscreen off the printed canvas and let the canvas dry.
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