In my junior year of high school, (sidenote that was truly insane to type out and read over, how am I getting so old??), I was attending the CTC of Lackawanna County and was enrolled in a printmaking class that taught the class the basics and standards for print. We would do various things such as create little books and use the huge printing machines that never failed to fascinate me with all of their intricate parts and laborious cleaning processes. One of the most absolute favorite things I did in that course was get the opportunity to design and create a hoodie with a screen-printed design all by myself. Well, maybe not all myself but with the guidance of my teacher, so mostly myself.

The first thing I did was create a stencil in Adobe Illustrator that we then printed onto a special film called acetate that can transfer to the screen. Preparing and treating the screen is the most important step so that you can ensure the design is transferred properly which is done with an emulsion chemical. Then, we put the stencil acetate on the treated screen and exposed it to light so that when the emulsion on the screen hardened, the design would be engraved into the screen allowing for the ink to be passed through. I was finally able to print the design on the screen and create my hoodie, which I thought had come out so beautifully and I still am mad at myself for misplacing it. Screen printing is a very time-consuming and complicated process that involves a ton of chemicals and patience, however, I hope that I get the opportunity to do it again soon as it is very rewarding and satisfying to see the final piece.