What to Know Before Class
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SCHEDULE
Here’s everything that happens across the two days, plus what to do before you show up.
Before class: do your design homework
This is the one thing to do ahead of time. The bulk of your design work should happen before day one.
- For some of you, “done” means a clear idea in your head. That’s genuinely enough to start!
- For others, “done” means a fleshed-out design ready to print. If that’s you, give yourself real time, a good design can take me about a week, so don’t leave it to the night before.
- Feeling unsure about your idea? Don’t hesitate to reach out and chat, that’s what day one is for too, and I’m around before then.
Day 1: Build, coat, and get your hands dirty
The foundation day. By the end of it you’ll understand how this whole thing works.
- Build your frames: we’ll break down a canvas to reclaim the frame, then stretch fresh mesh over it (yes, there will be staple guns).
- Coat with emulsion: get hands-on with it and learn what it’s actually doing.
- Explore designs together: we’ll look at everyone’s ideas as a group and start refining.
- Get a feel for printing: some hands-on printing so the process isn’t abstract.
- Finalize your design: a good time to lock things in and talk one-on-one with me.
Day 2: Expose, wash, and print, print, print
The payoff day.
- Exposure tests: learn how to nail your exposure so your screen comes out right.
- Get your design on the right material: print it out and prep it properly.
- Expose and wash out: turn your coated screen into a printable one.
- Print! The rest of the day is yours to actually make prints.
- Reclaiming a screen (optional): we’ll cover how to reclaim a screen so you can reuse it. You don’t have to do this one, but it’s good to see.
You’ll walk out with your two frames, finished prints, and the know-how to keep going at home.
What the Studio Provides
You don’t need to bring much to our class, the studio has all the essentials!
- Frames & mesh to build your two screens.
- Emulsion and everything for coating and exposing.
- Screen printing ink, in a handful of colors:
- For light garments: red, blue, yellow, black, pink, and purple.
- For dark garments: white.
- This is what’s on hand, and I’ll bring some of my personal inks too. Feel free to supplement with your own, or reach out if there’s a specific color you’re hoping for and we’ll figure it out. (Where to buy: see “What to Bring” below.)
- Squeegees and the full printing setup.
- Posca markers and India ink, if you’re drawing your design onto acetate.
- Paper, if you’d like to print a poster.
- Garments! You can choose 2 shirts or 2 totes from the studio (totes are 13.5″ × 13.5″), and feel free to bring your own!
- Staple guns for stretching your screens (they work, but they’re nothing fancy, more on that under “What to Bring”).
What to Bring
Not much is required, and what’s handy differs a little day to day, so here’s the breakdown.
Every day:
- Old clothes. This is messy, happy work, and ink and emulsion don’t come out. We’ve got aprons, but honestly, I’d just wear something you don’t mind accidentally re-designing.
- Your wonderful ideas and your enthusiasm for making awesome art. Non-negotiable. 😊
Day 1:
- Your design! Whether it’s a finished file, a drawing, or just a solid idea, bring it. If it’s digital, you can bring your device (a laptop or tablet is great to have on day one for our design time), or just email it to me ahead of time, whatever’s easiest.
- Ear protection, if you have a favorite. We’ll be building frames and banging away, so it gets loud. The studio has some, but if you’ve got earplugs or muffs you love, bring them.
- A staple gun, if you’ve got one you like. The studio’s work fine but they’re nothing special, so if you own a nicer one, especially an electric one, you’ll be glad you brought it. Your hands will thank you after stretching two frames.
- The studio stocks T50 staples. If your gun takes something different, grab those in 1/4″ or 5/16 (6-8mm).
Day 2:
- Anything extra you want to print on, if you’d rather use your own garments, or print extra beyond the studio provided. A quick heads up before you go buy something: we can only print on flat, fairly smooth surfaces, so no ball caps, and watch out for seams, creases, pockets, or zippers in your print area. Flat front of a tee, a tote, a tea towel, that kind of thing. When in doubt, hold off buying and ask me, we can talk it through, and there’s more on printable surfaces in class.
Want a specific ink color? You can grab your own from Amazon or Blick. Two things to know:
It must be water based/Acrylic screen printing ink, we don’t have the capacity to cure the other types
You should get opaque ink if you’re printing on dark fabric (Amazon), and standard ink for light fabric (Amazon, Blick) otherwise. (Opaque is the stuff that shows up on dark garments, a normal ink won’t nearly as well)
GET IN TOUCH
Questions, ideas, a design you’re not sure about, or just want to say hi? Reach out anytime, I’d love to hear from you.
- Text: 802-291-3762, texts only please, we can set up a call from there!
- Email: evan@koppers.me
Don’t be shy, especially if you’re stuck on your design or wondering whether something will print. That’s exactly what I’m here for, and a quick message now can save you a headache later. Let’s make something you love!