Serigraph (silkscreen) Commission in progress

I pulled Colors 12 and 13 today. I'm thinking one more color on the far side of the river, possibly two more. Then the Bighorn Sheep will be started (probably five or six colors on each one.) It's been cold outside; Minus 8 degrees when I left the studio at midnight. It did stop snowing (finally) but the night sky was clear, so with no cloud cover the temperature will drop even more before daybreak. I keep the studio at about 50 or 55 degrees - perfect for working and the screen inks flow just right.

 (Above) Color 12 is a slightly peachy tone that covers the far side of the river and the distant landforms. My lighting was slightly different when I photographed tonight so the colors as they appear in the photo are a bit closer to the actual colors than most all of the previous progression photos posted.
(Below) Color 13 starts to show some definition in the far side of the river and the distant landforms.

Serigraph (silkscreen) Commission in progress

Here are updates for colors number 10 and number 11. I'm happy with the way the rocks are coming out. One more color to represent the surfaces of rock that are sunlit and then the distant landscape and the mountain sheep will be tackled next. This has been a little slower-going than I'd hoped as I'm having to fit this project into a full schedule with other projects in progress as well.

 

(Above) The serigraph at the 10 Color stage.

(Below) The serigraph at the 11 Color stage.  Just one more color for the foreground and middle ground rocks and then on to the background landscape! Nice to finally see the foreground ram starting to take shape, even if it is only because the color field around him is what is being printed.

(Above) The serigraph at the 10 Color stage.

Serigraph (silkscreen) Commission in progress

Here's today's update! Only got one color done today but am pleased as now the shapes are starting to become apparent. If I think of it tomorrow, I'll photograph my line drawing that is the basis for this serigraph.
Two things I forgot to mention in my previous post: The image area is 30 inch by 19 inch and the commission is for the Friends Of Missouri Breaks Monument (the Missouri Breaks Monument is a wild/scenic area along the Missouri River north and east of Lewistown, Montana.)
Also, this serigraph is being done in solvent-based inks (Naz-Dar 5500 Series) and a mucilage block-out.

Serigraph (silkscreen) Commission in progress

Before I write/say anything, I should note that the colors as seen in these progress photos are not completely true to the actual colors on the serigraphs. I'm photographing these on the layout table and so lighting is not the best and there is also some distortion as I can't get the camera quite far enough away.
In the photo at the right, you are seeing the upper third of the image area -- at this stage the rest of the image area is still just the white paper. In this photo there are two colors: The purplish sky (pulled first) and the lighter bluish tone beneath where the thunderhead will be. Where these first two colors overlap it has the effect of creating a third color. I masked out the remainder of the image area, including the far ram (seen here as white.)


Photo at the above is at the five color stage. The thunderhead is starting to take on a nice decorative shape.

 Photo above is at the six color stage. At this point I decided to stop working on the sky portion of the image and tackle the main body of the serigraph, and especially the lettering that would appear at the bottom of the image.

 Photo above shows the 7th color now added at the bottom of the image. Again, I should note that colors are not entirely true in these photos (for example, the blank area is actually pure white of the paper still.)--and also there is some distortion due to having to photograph at too close a distance. The brown area (actually a salmon-ish brown color) was pulled for the sake of the lettering as seen once the next color is pulled.

 Photo above shows the nine color stage. Again, some distortion due to the camera---the actual serigraphs are nice and straight/squared as are the straight lines of the shape that contains the lettering. Prior to pulling the peachy color over the brown, I hand-brushed the mucilage block-out over each letter (which I'd free-hand drawn onto the screen.)

If you have any questions about my process up to this point, please feel free to email me or, if you've accessed this posting via my Facebook page, then please leave comments/questions there. I will try to reply in a timely manner.

Photo Above shows the eight color stage on the table in the foreground. Beyond that is the screen, which is swung open and fully back so I can brush on the mucilage block-out on the back side (the ink is squeegeed across the reverse side.) You can see that I am also attaching some tracing paper areas to serve as a block-out for those areas that I don't want to print in the next color, but also do not want to cover with mucilage only to have to remove it after the next color run.

The best money spent in the studio this year was the $375 for a used but fully functional Saturn Print Drying Rack (new ones approach $2,000 or more). There are 50 trays, each measuring 40" x 52". Trays are spring-loaded; when not drying prints, the trays are in the upright position---and just a touch of the hand lowers or raises each tray.
I use to have to run (literally) all around the studio to hang my wet prints on make-shift cloths lines and trying to hang prints back-to-back was nuts! And hurrying because the inks would be drying in the screen and could mess up the next several prints! So yes!  This was money well spent!! (even though I had to leave off the top ten trays because my 8-ft high studio ceiling wasn't high enough to allow those trays to be in the fully up position.
But even with just 40 of the trays installed, I LOVE my print drying rack!