TECHNICAL SKILLS

Formal Content:

Looking and Talking:

• Students recognize and understand the social, emotional, and historical context of visual culture through time and across cultures(art vocab and history, criticism [what is art, why do people make art, how do artists use art to express ideas, describing, analyzing, interpreting, and judging a work of art using Feldman's model of Art Criticism]

  Description:

  • What is it? What kind of object, artist, dates, style, media, size, obvious subject, etc.?
  • What does the object itself immediately reveal?
  • What are the visual clues that would help you identify the work?

  Formal Analysis:

  • How was it done? Technical explanations, methods, compositions

  Elements of design

  • Form, Line, Shape, Color, Texture, Space, Value

  Principles of art

  • Emphasis, Balance, Harmony, Variety, Movement,, Rhythm, Proportion, Unity

  Interpretation:

  • What does this work mean? Is there a story --literary content?
  • Symbols or visual clues. (Iconography)
  • Any emotion or feeling?--hedonic tone, aesthetic resonance?
  • Historical period or artistic style?
  • Is this work an important example to explain some cultural, social or human activity, or interest?

  Judgment:

  • Why is this work valuable? In your opinion, is the work good or bad?
  • Successful or unsuccessful as a work of art and in what terms?
  • How can you validate your opinions and judgment?
  • Compare it with another work that is similar/different to with what some other critic or historian has said about this work?) , aesthetics, media, etc.)

  Expressive:

  • Students will understand and communicate complex ideas and emotions through art creation and reflection. (visual media and technology, literacy, production) (Making connections, synthesis of various forms of knowledge through art, integrating subject areas, invention, making use of community resources) (Visual imagination and creativity, developing and articulating personal style through art work, strengthening habits of mind-imagination/creativity/metaphor, problem solving in creative ways)

  LESSON RATIONALE

  When I began combining elements of graphic design with technology, it was 1981 and the computer involved was a 48K Apple II+ with a dot matrix printer and a 5.25 inch floppy drive. There were no hard drives for storage and no mice. There was a limited palette of black, white, green, purple, orange, and blue for high resolution programming. There were only 16 colors available for low resolution graphics. Yet one of the first fields of interest was graphic design. Before long, the first graphic tablets appeared, and students were learning how to create spirograph-like drawings in LOGO or LightBrite style drawings in Apple BASIC programming language.

  The capabilities of the computer as a drawing tool were realized almost from it's inception when main frame computers spit out detailed renderings all done in keyboard symbols and/or letters. Today, printing is the second largest global industry, and it is a given that many jobs require computer skills. Some of these are Web Designer, Visual Design, Motion Graphics, Interactive Designer, Publishing Design, Production Artist, Special Effects Artist, Video Game Designer, 3D Modeler, 2D and 3D Animator, and Multimedia Producer. Artists are expected not only to have all the traditional skills but are competing directly with those whose computer skills are superior and thus are perceived to be better graphic artists. To level the playing field, we need to make sure our students who want to compete for design jobs have both skill sets.

  INTEGRATIVE ASPECTS OF THE LESSON:

• In the area of Language Arts Comprehension, students are required to use internet resources when doing research. The students must evaluate information on the internet in the same manner as they would if researching information in texts or magazines. They are taught to treat the internet just like a text and when appropriate, to cite information that is directly quoted from internet sources.
  
• In the area of Communications/Media students use multi-media software to create computer generated presentations on specific aspects of the lesson. The software used could be either HyperStudio or PowerPoint.
  
• In the area of Science, multimedia presentations can be used to document the step by step technical processes of silk screening.
  
• In the area of History, multimedia presentations can depict specific biographical information or cultural information regarding key people or events having some impact on the world of silk screen printing which is considered to be one of the oldest forms of printing. It was first used by the Chinese and Japanese to decorate clothing, reproduce artwork, and create posters. The process was patented by the United Kingdom in 1907, and in the United States the following year by the San Francisco Flag Company which used it to create advertising posters.

  MOTIVATION/INTRODUCTION:

  • I will be creating either Powerpoint or Hyperstudio presentations that will present the course itself and point out the iconography, formal qualities of the work, and the techniques used. I am a fairly lively speaker with a generally good rapport with teenagers, and usually use humor to help motivate my students. My enthusiasm for the work should also help as well as their natural gravitation towards the use of computers for just about anything.
  • I will be showing images of ancient silk screen work, focusing on China and Japan
    • I will be showing images of and talking about the importance of The Silk Road
  • I will be showing images from pop culture of the past to pop culture of today in time capsule form to show the impact on the vast field of silk screen T-Shirt design

  ART MAKING PROCEDURES/ACTIVITIES:

  Supplies and Equipment List:

  (non-consumable)
  • 6 or more fully equipped Mac or PC computers loaded with all software programs needed
  • 2 or more digital cameras
  • 3 or more photo quality color printers
  • several reusable silk screen frames
  • *1 two bulb fluorescent bulb fixture for exposing photo emulsion coated screens
  • a sink large enough to wash screens
  • small paint brushes if drawing fluid technique is used instead of photo emulsion method
  • 2 ink squeegees

  Materials

  (consumable)
  • several rolls of 1 inch and 2 inch masking tape
  • textile inks
  • *photo emulsion and activator (drawing fluid and screen filler might be substituted)
  • 4 or more 50 sheet packages of glossy photo quality paper
  • 2 or more 50 sheet packages of glossy brochure paper or presentation paper
  • 2 or more packages of ink jet transparencies for silk screening
  • 2 or more packages of iron on transfer paper for T-shirts
  • 2 color and 2 black ink jet cartridges per printer

  Organization/Distribution of Equipment and Supplies:

  Demonstration Plan:

  Step-by-step directions:

  PHASE 1: PREPARING THE DESIGN

  
  
  1. Design your screen on the computer starting with a digital photo of any object you would like to stylize into a design.
     I wanted a peace sign, but didn't find any to my liking on the internet, so I used my own hand and took several photos.
  2. Open up the photograph file in Adobe Photoshop
  3. Make a new transparent layer.
     (This is the layer on which you will create a black line drawing. I prefer to use the airbrush tool for this sort of thing, but the pencil or regular brush could work as well)
  4. Hide the background layer from time to time to check your progress
  5. When the basic black line drawing is finished, flatten the image while the background is hidden
     This will give you a white background instead of a transparent one.
     
  6. Make adjustments such as going over the line to thicken it and increase the contrast.
     Try the blur filter to make the line more smooth. Keep tweaking till you are happy. Don't be afraid to "PLAY!"
  7. Another fun part is adding a second graphic element to the design
     You can design it yourself or do as I did and use a piece of clip art that suits your needs

     The clip art I found was too small to use as is. The line drawing of the peace sign was 8" tall and I wanted the hand superimposed on at least part of the stars and some stripes. The first thing I did was eliminate the flag pole. I resized the flag so that it matched the 8" height of the peace sign. I copied the larger flag and pasted it into a new layer on the peace sign. I changed the opacity so that I could see how to line up the stars and stripes. I decided I would rather have the flag upside down, so I deleted the layer, inverted my large flag and tried again. I was much happier with this arrangement of stars and stripes on the peace sign. I proceeded to erase all parts of the flag layer which were not needed. In order to get the background layer on top of the flag layer, I needed to duplicate the background layer and "sandwich" the flag layer between them. Then all three were flattened into a JPEG file. This could now be used as a piece of clip art.

     
     
  8. Make a new transparent layer for this graphic file
  9. Once you have all the new lines drawn in, go into the background layer and use the Magic Wand tool to select and delete all areas of color
  10. Flatten both layers together and you now have a black line drawing of your peace sign
  11. Save this file with a new name
  12. Once the graphic portion of the design is ready, you can add text
      For transparencies you can use a more elaborate font because the design will be burned into the screen with the photo emulsion method. Photoshop Elements has a text tool that allows both vertical and horizontal arches and various other text shapes.
  13. Play around with the text effects until you get the "look" with which you are satisfied.
      Experiment with fonts, sizes, and shapes
      This will be the BLACK separation when you print out the transparency
  14. Make a duplicate layer.
  15. Hide the background layer.
  16. Fill in the areas that should be red.
  17. Use the Magic Wand tool to select the color red, then select inverse.
  18. Delete that selection to leave only the red areas.
  19. Save this version of the design as a Photoshop file. That way all layers will be saved.
      JPEGs are flattened (combined) to form one layer.
  20. This will be the RED separation when you print on the transparencies
  21. Make another duplicate layer of the background
  22. Hide the background layer and the red layer
  23. Fill in the areas that should be blue.
  24. Use the Magic Wand tool to select the color blue, then select inverse.
  25. Delete that selection to leave only the blue areas.
  26. This will be the BLUE separation layer.
      If you use more than one color, you will need to put registration marks on each transparency. All transparencies need to be printed in black ink because of the photo emulsion technique.
      

      PHASE 2: PREPARING THE SCREEN

      DRAWING FLUID METHOD

      
  27. When using the Speedball Drawing Fluid method, you will want to simplify the design.
      Less text, and a less complex font will help a great deal.
      
      
  28. Use the reversed design as a guide for applying the Speedball Drawing Fluid.
  29. Work carefully but quickly to prevent the design underneath from adhering to the fluid covered areas.
      This is what the screen will look like after you cover the design area with the Speedball screen drawing fluid. Let the blue fluid dry completely. It will take at least 30 min.
  30. Coat the screen with a thin layer of Speedball Screen Filler and let dry.
  31. Rinse out the Drawing Fluid with cold water. Those areas will now be opened up.
      The open areas are where the ink will be squeegeed onto paper or a t-shirt or tote bag.

      PHOTO EMULSION METHOD (not pictured)

  1. Mix up the photo emulsion according to directions on the box. Keep in a cold, dark place.
  2. Wash the screen in water with a little mild soap.
  3. Have design ready on the transparency
  4. Spread the emulsion on both sides of a dry screen using the squeegee. Set it in a cool, dark place to dry.
  5. Get yourself a large piece of black paper and set up several bright lights above it.
  6. When the screen is dry, place it on the black paper (the paper should be big enough so it covers the surface underneath the screen and absorbs any stray light) with the bottom side up. Use a large piece of clean glass or Plexiglas to press the transparency to the screen.
  7. Expose the screen under the bright lights for approx. 30 min. Follow the instructions on the emulsion.
  8. Wash the screen under a steady stream of lukewarm water. The stream will wash out where the transparency blocked out the light. Be careful not to rub out an area that you want to keep.
  9. When the screen is washed out, set it aside to dry. The emulsion will form a plastic coating on the fabric.
  10. When the screen is dry, take the duct tape and tape all around the outside edge where the screen meets the wood. This will prevent any ink from seeping under and coming out when you don't want it to. Also, tape anywhere else where there isn't a design as this will strengthen the screen and make it last longer. When this is done, you are ready to print.

  PHASE 3: PRINTING

  1. Place the screen on the test paper, making sure to protect the surface
  2. Take a spoon and place a fair amount of ink across the top edge of the screen. The ink should be anywhere from thick but flowing to peanut butter consistency
  3. Take the squeegee and use it to drag the ink across the screen. You can repeat back and forth as many times as you need.
  4. Check the printed product:
     • Is there ink where you don't want it? Tape those areas (after washing the screen).
     • Is there too little ink on the paper? Do more passes with the squeegee.
     • Once you are satisfied, print it on the t-shirt which has been washed and dried first.
  5. Place a thick piece of cardboard inside the shirt under where you want to screen so the ink does not seep through. Make sure the shirt is flat.

  Clean up Plan:

  • Students will make sure all screens, spoons, and squeegees are washed thoroughly and set to dry
  • Students will hang printed items carefully to dry
  
  Art Education Area; Department of Visual Art; Peck School of the Arts; University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
  Noreen Strehlow - Copyright March 2003