SILKSCREEN PRINTING – 4 COLOR PROCESS PARTY! For those who are not familiar, silkscreen printing is a printing technique where an image is transferred to paper, fabric or other materials by forcing ink through a very fine silk mesh. Usually, each color is printed one by one, however two or more colored inks can be used at once to create a fade or gradient effect. This is called a split fountain – but we didn't do any of that here. Below are some photos from a new print we recently finished printing for the upcoming Grizzly Bear show at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis.







This particular print is what's known as a 4 color process print. It uses the 4 colors used in process printing: cyan / magenta / yellow / black (CMYK) When these 4 colors are printed in a specific way it allows you to create more realistic, almost photographic color tones. This is achieved by separating the image into what's known as a color halftone image which is made up of tiny dots, dots that vary in size to create the illusion of hue contrast and tone. Where in reality it's just solid tiny dots that are so close to each other it creates the effect of a congruent image. Each of the 4 process colors has it's own set of dots. When all 4 colors are overlapped, you can see how the dots work together to create an image that makes sense, an image we're all more familiar with seeing. Have a look at these pics, it might help you understand. It's kinda like magic!





yellow (Y) – All that yellow you see is actually just tiny dots which create the illusion of a solid yellow image. 





magenta (M)





cyan (C)





black (K)



After each color is printed, they are transfered to dry on a large drying rack like this. Once dry, the prints are collected, stacked and cut down to size.







Then finally, after the last color is printed, they are stamped on the back with the official florafauna seal of approval, signed and numbered. Countless hours are spent pulling an inked squeegee back and forth, forcing the ink through the screen, one color at a time, all by hand. Each print is treated with tender loving care. They are as delicate as a 3rd grader's emotions on the school playground and yield results that are far less predictable. –  Available SOON in the poster shop!