Are you compelled by the designs on Dismali tees but frustrated by your lack of screenprinting skills, dearies? Fear not, for I am here to walk you through the basics of this dark art and help you start creating your own sinister gothic artwork. As the preeminent goth queen and proprietress of this emporium of gloom, I have been honing my screenprinting craft for years to produce the macabre masterpieces within these hallowed halls.
How to Start
To get started creating gothic artwork, you’ll need to gather some essential equipment, darling. A screenprinting frame, mesh fabric, squeegees, ink, and stencils or photo emulsion for creating your designs. A frame allows you to securely stretch and tension the mesh so you can print multiple copies of a single design. Mesh fabric comes in different thread counts – for beginners a medium or high count is easier to work with.
Inks come in a rainbow of gothic hues – stick to black, deep reds and purples for now, dearies. You’ll also want a solvent based ink, as they adhere better to fabrics. Squeegees allow you to push the ink through the mesh and apply even pressure and coverage. And stencils or photo emulsion permit you to create the shapes and shadows that bring your sinister visions to cloth.
The process itself involves several steps: preparing your design and applying it to the mesh, preparing the fabric with an adhesive, inking the mesh, placing and positioning the fabric under the screen, and then squeegeeing the ink through the mesh onto the fabric. Take your time and be meticulous, especially when first learning. Multiple thin coats provide better coverage than one thick coat.
7 Tips for Gothic Artwork
Some tips to keep in mind: choose a high-quality, dark fabric that can withstand ink, keep an emulsion or laser cutter handy for quick design changes, consider multifilament threads for smoother prints, and dispose of ink and solvents properly according to local regulations. With some practice, you’ll be creating macabre masterpieces in no time!
To properly print upon the printed plain requires dark diligence, heed these 7 necro notes if you would screenprint t-shirts to true Gothic standard:
One: Choose art befitting the medium – motifs with solid blocks of color suit screens best, whilst fine linework and gradients prove trickier. Avoid elaborate images; keep it stark and sinister.
Two: Prepare line art – Create a high resolution digital file, sans color or shadow. Trace smoothly and fill in solid shapes. Test print to ensure lines transmit crisply to shirt.
Three: Divide art into print colors – Most Gothic designs require 2-4 inks – black, with additional red, grey and blue. Assign each filled shape or line a color using layering in Photoshop or Illustrator.
Four: Create screens – Make a screen for each print color onto custom sized screen frames. Coat carefully with photo emulsion, expose art positively to insolate design shapes, then rinse to remove excess for ‘negative’ screens.
Five: Ensure print registration – Mark identical points on shirt and screen to guarantee color alignment. If even one ink bleeds, the design risks becoming a muddled monstrosity.
Six: Add flood and squeegee – Lay shirts smooth side down on printing table. Flood screens with ink and pull blade smoothly across, applying even pressure. Remove screens and in order of lightest to darkest ink.
Seven: Dry, clean and store – Hang printed tees to dry completely before washing. Clean screens immediately with gum remover, then wrap and store carefully to preserve emulsion for future foul feats of form and figure.
And Now… Create!
Demonstrate your newfound skills by printing sinister symbols, bleak silhouettes, or arcane alphabets. Once comfortable, develop your own gothic wardrobe by printing tees, hoodies, accessories and more. You can even sell your sinister wares at rendezvous like Belgian Bootboys or Mortis. The possibilities for spreading gloom are endless!
In conclusion, take up your screens, ink and fabric and bring some darkness into this world, my dears. Kickstart your own parlor of panic or propagate plumes of noxious fumes with every print. Venture into the shadowy realm of screenprinting and never return the same! The night awaits.
Until our next perverse peregrination,
Your goth queen