COVID19-Specific Materials Info
The course has been organized to enable us with the flexibility that we need due to the fact that the campus studios are closed to students and faculty. Materials and equipment were selected for quality and price to provide you with the minimum needed to do well in this course. The materials chosen are non-toxic, but you should still not consume any of them. Learning remotely is not ideal for a studio art course, but not impossible. Your tenacity and determination are necessary for you to enjoy this course. More detailed information will be given to students on the first day of class. Students will be given instruction as a group, and I will provide specific technical information per student as needed.
Screenprinting Equipment
Screenprinting equipment is durable and re-usable. the art and art history department has provided you with a basic set of this equipment. most of this equipment, while not the most expensive on the market, will last and enable you to continue to print after the course has ended. The equipment simply needs to be taken good care of and kept clean in order that you can use them at the highest level consistently and maintain their good order. I will be giving you more information about this as we make progress.
Screenprinting Supplies
Screen-printing supplies differ from equipment in that they are consumables. The paper, ink, screen drawing fluid, etc. will all be used up at some point and need to be replaced. It may be that during this semester you do so much work that you do need to buy more! that would be a very positive result. Printing supplies are often confused with painting supplies. The printing supplies you have are made for this process and have many useful properties that are specific. I will go over these, but there are sometimes mistakes that can be made because of the relative familiarity between printing supplies and other image-making materials. For example, students should remember that ink and paint are very different and therefore will need to be treated appropriately.
Sketchbook:
An online sketchbook (we are calling it your journal) is a requirement, but traditional paper sketchbooks are not. Students are welcome to use these but must upload any work to the online journal.
Drawing tools:
Pencils and other basic pens such as rollerball and/or sharpie (different sizes) will work well for what we need to do.
Xacto knife & blades:
This is an essential tool for your progress through this course. Tools such as this have different uses, and I will go over these as we make progress. This tool can hurt you, so we will need to go over what we will agree is responsible use. As is the case with most art equipment, there is a range of types. you can ask me about these if and when a need arises.
Mixing tools/containers:
Mixing tools are for preparing ink and creating specific colors. However, they do not necessarily need to be expensively bought. If you have old spatulas, spoons, house-paint mixers, or anything similar, it can work very well. Remember that ALL mixing tools need to be kept clean! Mixing containers are important to your work in printing because you need a tool to allow you to learn about the properties of ink such as viscosity. Air-tight containers allow you to mix the ink to gain specific colors, and to store that colour for its reuse at another time. This can be important when a precise colour is mixed. Saving the colour will save time and enable the continuation of the print with the same colour profile seamlessly. The container should be air-tight and stored in a cool, dry place. Students are free to choose and use any that they wish. If you aren’t saving a specific color, a plastic cup, etc can be used just fine. It is not necessary for students to buy the costliest version of these; you can use yoghurt containers, jam jars, etc just as well.
Ink & Paper:
Students have standard inks and papers and can complete the course perfectly well. In the event another paper/surface is desired, students will be required to buy any special inks/papers they wish to use (and the range of possibilities is almost endless.)