Overcoming Difficulty - Silkscreening T-shirts

I totally needed a beer to handle this job...

Hi everyone! Monkey is here for our 200th post(!!!) and will be talking about the process of silkscreening the new "You're Not Alone Anymore" shirts aka the "Naricorn" (narwhal + unicorn=naricorn) shirt for short.

Hey all, so I won't be going into too many of the technical details of silkscreen printing here,because if you are interested, I'll be running a FREE demo/workshop on screenprinting at the SF Zine Fest, starting at 3:30 this Saturday, Sept. 4th. More details can be found here. So if you want to talk shop, I'll be there (also at the Monkey + Seal table the entire fest!).

Anyway, so on to the post. Overcoming difficulty. This past week, I have been a bit crazed, as trying to print 30-ish t-shirts with fairly tight registration with water-based textile inks when a)you don't have the right emulsion, b)you're used to printing with either water-based inks for PAPER, c)if you do print on shirts, you've only used plastisol inks, and d)you're out of screen opener. If this makes any sense to you great, if not, just know there were a lot of hurdles to making this shirt.

a)wax paper is not as good as freezer paper, b)my float coat was waaaay to thin for what I was doing

Besides only having one type of emulsion that doesn't hold up well to water-based textile inks (ie the stencil gets eaten away by the inks), the rest of the issues weren't so big. The main issue was that the emulsion (which our shop usually uses fine with plastisol inks). For those that have never screenprinted before, basically the emulsion is what is used to create a stencil of sort on the screen that prevents all the ink from seeping through your screen. Instead of a big huge flat of ink, you only get the parts that you want (the design) on the shirt. If you have holes in your emulsion, you'll get ink that you don't want onto whatever you're printing on. Thus, having ink that eats through your emulsion is a huge issue.

I had never used this current emulsion with the water-based textile inks, so I didn't know this might be a problem until I actually started printing. So with a screen with emulsion slowly degrading, I started to lose hope. I was frustrated at myself for not even considering the possibility, for not planning earlier (I was supposed to ship out the shirts the same day), and for not having all the supplies I needed to make the process easier.

The screen for printing the white layer

Thankfully, after a long day of experimentation and failure and being a bit of a rude jerk to Eve, I realized that being all upset was not going to solve anything. I apologized to Eve when I got home that night and started problem-solving. I started looking up emulsion comparisons and manufacturer's data sheets. I then started cross-referencing good emulsions with any local stores that might carry them. I then took care of the customer service issues, as many of these shirts were pre-ordered and I wanted to let our customers know what went wrong, and offered them a refund if they wanted to cancel. Finally, I took down the phone numbers of all the local stores that could possibly carry professional-level screenprinting supplies (speedball doesn't cut it! Sorry!) and then went to bed.

The next morning was spent on the phone trying to figure out where I could get some emulsion, and while I waited for a few return phone calls, I started systematically going through the process I had used to burn the screens, and realized that there were a few steps that I could have taken to potentially extended the life of the stencil. I then went to the studio, experimented again, and managed to find a way to use the emulsion I had (since I couldn't get the stuff I needed in a reasonable amount of time and at a decent price) and the shirts were printed!

The white layer printed!

White + blue layers = finished shirt! Now I just have to heat-set it.

The reason I wanted to share this story with you was that there were a lot of points where I wanted to just give up and refund everyone their money back. I wanted to curse the screenprinting gods and just kick a hole in my screens and knock buckets of ink over. I even contemplated outsourcing the printing to some other print shop. But I didn't. I stayed (relatively) calm, and by assessing and reassessing the situation, thinking outside the box, and going back to the basics, I was able to get the shirts printed!

The final shirt. Whew!

Panicking and freaking out is never going to make any situation any better. Stay rational, think creatively, and sometimes the most simple answer might be the one you're looking for. Anyone else with any good tips on how to handle adversary? Please share in the comments!

Learn Screenprinting! Learn Bookbinding!

Hi everyone! We just wanted to take the time to remind you all to stop by the San Francisco Zine Fest this weekend (September 4+5) from 11am-6pm at the SF County Fair Building (in Golden Gate Park at 9th + Irving).

The event is totally free, and Monkey + Seal will be there vending. We'll have our ties, prints, and our new postcard line for sale, as well as some new assorted paper products (if we can finish them in time, eep!).

Additionally, there are going to be a ton of great workshops, panels, and discussions going on, and Monkey will be teaching two of them!

Stop by at 3:30 on Saturday to get an insider's look to screenprinting! We'll have a screen or two for you to print from, so make sure that you bring some paper, or some clothing to print on! We'll provide the inks, screens, squeegees, etc., so just bring what you want to print on! PS - Give us some suggestions as to what exactly you'd like to print, and if you're early enough, you just might see it at the workshop!

If you want to get your bindery skills on (or learn some), swing by at 12:30 on Sunday as Monkey will also be an instructor for the bookbinding class. We'll go over some single-sheet books, a pamphlet stitch, and if time allows, for some simple Japanese stab-binding! Awesome! We'll have all the supplies you need, just bring yourself and your curiosity!

Besides the awesomeness of the Zine Fest itself, there are lots of other fun events being put on by the Fest! On Friday, there will be a reading at the Cartoon Art Museum from 7-9pm with super great comic creators. It's a line-up not to be missed, and Monkey will be there for sure!

Also check out our Afterparty and Mixer over at Mission: Comics & Art (3520 20th Street, San Francisco) on Saturday from 7-10pm! Meet and mingle with some of the vendors at the Fest and have some drinks and check out the art on the walls! Sweet!

If you still can't get enough of the Fest, come to our After-After party at the Knock Out (3223 Mission Street). It's a $5 cover for this 90's Alternative dance party, but if get in FREE with zines to trade, a flannel get-up, or if you rock a Baby-Doll dress! It'll be from 9pm-2am, so come and get your 90's indie, underground, and riot-grrl jams, and rock on!

Whew! It's going to be a jam-packed week for Monkey + Seal and we hope to see you at the Zine Fest!

Paper Hat Productions Features: Alyss Estay

Featuring Alyss Estay
She is an incredibly creative, talented and articulate artist. Her fine arts serigraphs have those hard-to-execute beautiful gradient washes, subtly-mixed muted palettes, and innovative scenes. And all of it is screenprinted! To produce something of this detailed caliber takes an unbelievable amount of accuracy in registration.

We are happy to have her on our March gallery show. March 12th 8pm at SPACE Gallery, 1141 Polk St.




If you are connected on Facebook, you can RSVP here.

Screenprinting Squeegees!

So after a huge delay (that was unfortunately mostly Monkey's fault) he finally got his squeegees in. Monkey had previously been using the equipment at the Academy of Art, but now that he finished, he was slowly building up his collection of screens. However, he had forgotten that he needs squeegees as well, and the ones they sell at art stores by Speedball really just don't do the job properly.

So, he ordered some from Creative Screen Technologies in San Leandro (where he also got his screens) and due to a hectic work schedule, the squeegees were sent back to the manufacturer, then resent back = double shipping charge and an extra week and a half of delays.

On the good side, now all Monkey needs to do is get some heavy-duty screws for his clamps and he'll be back in action printing from home now!

Monkey is looking at a few options in SF to rent studio space, as having all the fancy equipment is nice, but at least he's made sure he can do it from home!

Another sneak peek at the ties!

Sorry this is such a short post, but we just wanted to share with you some of the new colorways that Monkey found are successful. He hope you agrees! Once again, they'll be making their big debut at the Handmade Ho Down!

Here's the Hazmat design in black on charcoal (for those who don't really go with the Radioactive Green color) and the Skull N Bones design in black on silver (for you non-pink people).

Monkey will be spending a good part of next week working on the ties (with more tie colors!) to bring a full selection of awesomeness to the Handmade Ho Down. Mark your calendars, and if you are interested in pre-ordering for a discounted price, let us know!

Did you make that tie yourself?

So at Monkey's dayjob, he is forced to wear a collared shirt and slacks. Being the snazzy Monkey he is, he likes to wear button-ups and ties. However, Monkey doesn't like dress codes, and so he was thinking of ways to personalize his very corporate appearance. Thus, he figured that if he made some kick-ass ties, then he could still be himself while staying within the dress code.

Thus, he started thinking about ties as an art format and came up with some designs that he thinks are pretty spiffy. He found a place that sells flat-colored ties, and is working to perfect screen-printing them. His grand debut of his line of ties will be at the Handmade Ho Down! Thus, if you want to see ALL the ties before everyone else does, it's a great opportunity. They will be online shortly after the event in the lovely Monkey + Seal Etsy Shop.

Anyway, since pictures usually speak louder than words, here are some sneak peaks at the ties! These are going to be the main colorways for these three designs! Monkey is still experimenting with different color inks, ties, and a few more designs. And although Monkey wears these super-bright colors daily, he will also be printing on some more neutral colors, for those of you who are a bit less wild. Enjoy!