Image Post (Week 5)

This past week we talked about lithographic printing or "stone printing". In chromolithographic printing each color had to be on a separate stone.  I am not familiar with this type of printing but as I read it and Laura explained it it sounded to me a lot like the way my dad and I screen print.  The image I chose is of a screen printing machine, you can see the different colors on the different screens, these machines can have different amounts of arms on them. In the close up you can see the arms that hold the screen and the board that the shirt is laid over. After the design for the shirt is done we have to print it on special photo-like transparent paper, but when the design has two or more colors the colors have to be printed separately. After the colors are separated and printed out they are put on a mesh screen. In another machine the image is laid on the screen where a light and special chemicals that were applied to the screen open up the mesh in areas where the design is. Once the screen is washed off and dried it is put on the screen printing machine, this goes for each color screen. Ink is then placed on the screen and once the shirt is on the printing board the screen is then pulled down on top of the shirt and ink is squeegeed across the design. After the first color is dried the next color is applied the same way and so on for any other colors. So in this process the screens each have different colors and in chromolithographic printing each stone had a different color. I have never seen chromolithographic printing but I imagine it is very similar and that is how I pictured this stone printing when Laura explained it.