~  S C R E E N P R I N T   F A Q  ~ ______________________________________________ What's a screenprint? A screenprint is the result of screenprinting... also known as silkscreening and serigraphy. Screens are wooden or metal frames stretched with synthetic mesh (not actual silk). The mesh holds stencils formed by hardened emulsion. Ink Ape screenprints are hand-pulled. This means Alec uses a squeegee to manually drive printer's ink through each stencil. The process begins with Alec's original pencil drawings, which he traces onto films using black India ink. These films are the color separations, and they subsequently become individual stencils via an analog photoemulsion process. ______________________________________________ What's the ink in an Ink Ape screenprint? Unless otherwise noted, the printer's ink in an Ink Ape screenprint is acrylic, a substance which retains its color intensity over time. Acrylic ink is water-based, free of toxic vapors and requires no harsh solvents during cleanup. This makes for an environmentally-friendly printing process. The benefits compound with Ink Ape's commitment to frugal studio practices. This involves reducing mess and reusing materials to minimize waste. Furthermore, studio energy requirements are exceptionally low with a vegan person manually working under the light of compact fluorescent lamps. ______________________________________________ What's the paper in an Ink Ape screenprint? Acrylic ink adheres very well to any porous material. This allows Ink Ape prints to be on different paper types in a variety of colors, thicknesses and surface finishes. If you have paper questions about a specific print, please contact Ink Ape. ______________________________________________ What does "edition" mean? An edition describes a set of prints produced sequentially with the same image, inks and paper. For example, "edition of 25" means there exist only 25 reproductions of the same print, with subtle variations between prints due to a hand-pulled process. A particular print's edition number corresponds to its placement in the printing sequence. Occasionally accompanying the edition are a few artist's proofs ("A.P."), usually amounting to less than 10% of the edition quantity. ______________________________________________ How do screenprint editions differ one from another? The color quantity per print is an important distinction. Generally, a print with more color separations requires more time to produce than a print with less. Other considerations are image complexity, image size and edition number. ABOUT | HOME