SQUEEGEE MOVES
Color Mixing
Affectionately known as ‘slop ink’ - that perfectly good, not-so-perfect ink doesn’t need to be thrown away. Why print just one color when you can print so many more?
MATERIALS
Very poorly mixed ink is the key. Add multiple colors to the same container and stir minimally.
Those gobs of contaminated transparent base, they will work too.
Gradients can also be printed by mixing ink directly on the screen as you print. This takes some practice, which I have not done enough of to master myself.
PROCESS
For slop ink, apply it to the screen as you would any other ink and flood the screen. The colors will mix in the direction of your squeegee. Repeated flooding can overly blend or muddy the swirls and other patterns that tend to occur.
Print as usual. It helps to keep the blade of the squeegee as ink-free as possible to retain your image when you print.
To take another print without cleaning the screen in between you should get as much of the ink out of the screen as possible (even running the squeegee over the image dry - without ink- onto proofing paper to clear the mesh further).
You can also drip, dribble, swipe, or drag the ink in multiple directions across the screen to see what happens.
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1/2 This ink was mostly transparent base contaminated while making other images and saved. The pink is a fluorescent pink from Speedball.
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2/2 This was 50% transparent base, 50% various inks, including a gold that lends a shimmery effect (in person).