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ORIGINS
OF SILKSCREENING Silkscreening
is a simple art process which produces color prints inexpensively.
Silkscreening permits multi-color editions. It is versitile and
can be done without expensive equipment. Edition quantities are
limitless depending upon demand. A good print can match a hand-painted
original in color and quality. No matter how many colors, good registration
can be achieved. The process can simulate the subtle transparent
washes of a watercolor, or the heavy impasto of an oil painting. EARLY
BEGINNINGS
In the Figi Islands early man first used stencils to print textiles.
Islanders cut shapes in banana leaves and then applied vegetable
dye through the openings. The early stencil was used on quantity
printing of religious pictures. The Japanese made skillful cut stencils
with special waterproof papers. The central parts of intricate designs
were held in place by ties of glue, raw silk, or human hair. Soon
4-5 color prints of good register were possible. In
the Middle Ages stencil craft thrived both in religious prints and
playing cards. The crusades helped spread stencil craft. In 17th
century England, the stencil was used for flocked wall paper. The
stencil was used to apply glue designs to paper. Fine Wool flock
dust was sprinkled over the stickey paper to make an embroided design.
Early American colonists used stencils to decorate walls and furniture. The
idea of using a silk fabric as a silkscreen is credited to Samuel
Simon of Manchester, England in 1907. Traveling teachers went town-to-town
selling this process to local sign painters and display card writers.
Silkscreening quickly became popular because it permited printing
thousands of images directly on any flat material from one stencil.
Soon these shops could compete on short run jobs with printers and
lithographers. By
World War I printing productions were stepping up. John Pilsworth
of San Francisco developed the selectasine method by using one screen
to print multicolor works by blocking out that area of the color
already printed. The process answered the growing demand for inexpensive
multi-color posters. Craftsmen
experimentation further developed and improved silkscreening. Soon
many techniques were in use including lithographic tusche, photostencils
and cut film. The commercial aspects of silkscreening flourished,
while the artistic remained dormant
until Anthony Velonis and the WPA in N.Y. City were granted
permission to create a silkscreen project. They brought the process
to museums and galleries, and art journals dubbed these prints serigraphs. Source
Silkscreening Techniquesby Biegeleisen and Cohn, published by Dover
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