screen printing History

Untitled Document

Screen printing first appeared in a recognizable form in China during the
Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD). Japan and other Asian countries adopted this method
of printing and advanced the craft using it in conjunction with block printing
and hand applied paints.

Screen printing was largely introduced to Western Europe from Asia sometime
in the late 1700s, but did not gain large acceptance or use in Europe until silk
mesh was more available for trade from the east and a profitable outlet for the
medium discovered.

Screen printing was first patented in England by Samuel Simon in 1907. It was
originally used as a popular method to print expensive wall paper, printed on
linen, silk, and other fine fabrics. Western screen printers developed
reclusive, defensive and exclusionary business policies intended to keep secret
their workshops' knowledge and techniques.

Early in the 1910s, several printers experimenting with photo-reactive
chemicals used the well-known actinic light activated cross linking or hardening
traits of potassium, sodium or ammonium Chromate and dichromate chemicals with
glues and gelatin compounds. Roy Beck, Charles Peter and Edward Owens studied
and experimented with chromic acid salt sensitized emulsions for photo-reactive
stencils. This trio of developers would prove to revolutionize the commercial
screen printing industry by introducing photo-imaged stencils to the industry,
though the acceptance of this method would take many years. Commercial screen
printing now uses sensitizers far safer and less toxic than bichromates.
Currently there are large selections of pre-sensitized and "user mixed"
sensitized emulsion chemicals for creating photo-reactive stencils.

Joseph Ulano founded the industry chemical supplier Ulano and in 1928 created
a method of applying a lacquer soluble stencil material to a removable base.
This stencil material was cut into shapes, the print areas removed and the
remaining material adhered to mesh to create a sharp edged screen stencil.

Originally a profitable industrial technology, screen printing was eventually
adopted by artists as an expressive and conveniently repeatable medium for
duplication well before the 1900s. It is currently popular both in fine arts and
in commercial printing, where it is commonly used to print images on Posters,
T-shirts, hats, CDs, DVDs, ceramics, glass, polyethylene, polypropylene, paper,
metals, and wood.

A group of artists who later formed the National Serigraphic Society coined
the word Serigraphy in the 1930s to differentiate the artistic application of
screen printing from the industrial use of the process."Serigraphy" is a
combination word from the Latin word "Seri" (silk) and the Greek word "graphein"
(to write or draw).

The Printer's National Environmental Assistance Center says "Screenprinting
is arguably the most versatile of all printing processes."Since rudimentary
screenprinting materials are so affordable and readily available, it has been
used frequently in underground settings and subcultures, and the
non-professional look of such DIY culture screenprints have become a significant
cultural aesthetic seen on movie posters, record album covers, flyers, shirts,
commercial fonts in advertising, in artwork and elsewhere.

History 1960s to present

Credit is generally given to the artist Andy Warhol for popularizing screen
printing identified as serigraphy, in the United States. Warhol is particularly
identified with his 1962 depiction of actress Marilyn Monroe screen printed in
garish colours.

American entrepreneur, artist and inventor Michael Vasilantone would develop
and patent a rotary multicolour garment screen printing machine in 1960. The
original rotary machine was manufactured to print logos and team information on
bowling garments but soon directed to the new fad of printing on t-shirts. The
Vasilantone patent was soon licensed by multiple manufacturers, the resulting
production and boom in printed t-shirts made the rotary garment screen printing machine the most
popular device for screen printing in the industry. Screen printing on garments
currently accounts for over half of the screen printing activity in the United
States.

Graphic screenprinting is widely used today to create many mass or large
batch produced graphics, such as posters or display stands. Full colour prints
can be created by printing in CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black ('key')).
Screenprinting is often preferred over other processes such as dye sublimation
or inkjet printing because of its low cost and ability to print on many types of
media.

Screen printing lends itself well to printing on canvas. Andy Warhol, Rob
Ryan, Blexbolex, Arthur Okamura, Robert Rauschenberg, Harry Gottlieb, and many
other artists have used screen printing as an expression of creativity and
artistic vision.