Screen Printing Class - Day One

I HAVE MY DRIVERS LICENSE BACK!  :)  What a relief.  Whoever found my license, thank you so very much.  It was very stressful not having ANY photo id in hand.

Ok, on to my Ryonet screen- printing class.  I arrived for class Friday and was welcomed by Ashley. (Picture below.)  I have been impressed with Ryonets customers service from day one.  Ashley is the person I have been in contact with the most so I definately wanted to get her picture on my blog and give her a big THANK YOU.  

Here is Ashley...SHE ROCKS!

                                                   

Each of us were given a book, free screen-printing CDs, (including one on CorelDraw and more) and a free 7" squeegee.  Cool, free stuff already!  I was reading the book when I looked up and saw the Ryan Moore, (owner of Ryonet) getting ready to teach the class.  I am always impressed with people who have the guts and determination to take an idea and make a successful business. I am even more impressed when they are as young as Ryan. It gives me motivation to keep going on my own business. As goofy as it sounds, I felt like I was seeing a movie star.  :) It was very cool!

Me with Ryan at lunch.  SUBWAY...yumm!

To say I was overwhelmed with the class would be an understatement.   Fridays class was filled with so much information to absorb. I know I must have missed something.  We learned all about screens... the different sizes of screens, the different mesh count and what to use them for, how to burn the screens, how to clean the screens, how to put emulsion on the screens and so much more.  We had many different teachers so it was nice to get different perspectives and different ways of doing things.  Mark taught us the one handed technique for putting emulsion on your screen.  I personally prefer the two-handed technique but it is definitely good to know different ways of doing things.

I am still trying to process Fridays information but I wanted to share a few things I learned.

SCREEN MESH COUNT
   * Mesh count is how many threads cross per inch
   *Higher mesh count means smaller holes in mesh
    *Lower mesh count means bigger holes in mesh
   *Use higher mesh count when you have a design with lots of detail.
   *You should go to yellow mesh when you get to 200 mesh count, as yellow will keep more light out when   you are burning your image.  Therefore you can pick up more detail in the image.
   *For glitter it is good to use 12, 24, 36, 60 mesh count (the holes are bigger to let the glitter pass through)

EMULSION
   *Keep it in a cool place so it will last longer 

DARKROOMS
   *Use a de-humidifier to keep moisture down 
   *You should not have your washout spot next to exposure unit because water and electric do not mix. :)

ARTWORK
   *Get an external hard drive for all your artwork because computers will break
   *Always good to save your art files as an EPS because CorelDraw, Photoshop and Illustrater can all read that type of file

COOL WEBSITES
    * freecoreldrawtraining.com

    * allhotkeys.com
    *24hrartwork.com
    *artworksource.com
    *5150graphics.com
    *lynda.com (a subscription website to learn CorelDraw, Photoshop and more)
    *rivalart.com (you can buy art packs for $9 and up)
    *nittanycreative.com (color separation services)

There is so much more but I am tired.  Todays class was all about printing shirts but I will have to wait until tomorrow to fill you in on it.  Make sure you come back because I have some very cool stuff (and pictures) to share.

Thanks!
Jeanette