1. Preparing & Exposing Photographic Silkscreens For use with Lesson 3 FOR EDUCATION USE ONLY ©2009 The Andy Warhol Museum, a museum of Carnegie Institute. All rights reserved. You may view and download the materials posted in this site for personal, informational, educational, and non-commercial use only. The contents of this site may not be reproduced in any form beyond its original intent without the permission of The Andy Warhol Museum. Except where noted, ownership of all material is The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh; Founding Collection, Contribution The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc.

2. In a darkened room or in a room with a yellow safe light, pour the emulsion into a scoop coater

3. Coat the screen, applying 2 thin coats of emulsion on each side of the screen.

4. If your scoop coater is smaller than the width of your screen, coat as shown in this slide. Once you have one coat on this side, turn the screen upside down to apply the second coat. Then apply two thin coats onto the back side of the screen, again flipping the screen upside down in between coats. Wipe off any excess emulsion that gathers around the edges.

5. Store the coated screens in a dark room or light- tight box until they are dry. Screens should dry with the flat side down (the side you used the squeegee on should be facing up). They need to dry perfectly flat. If the screen is tilted even the slightest bit, then the emulsion might dry unevenly and run off the screen.

6. If you are coating more than one screen, stack them using small blocks in between each one.

7. Once the screens are dry they may be put in black plastic garbage bags until you are ready to expose them

8. Expose the silkscreen with the students’ Film Positives. There are different types of exposing units. This one is a light table with clear glass and florescent light bulbs.

9. This process involves direct contact exposure. There must be no space between the Film Positive and the screen. Build a flat that is larger than your image, but small enough to fit inside the screen to ensure direct contact. Cover the flat in padding and black fabric to protect the screen.

10. Weigh down the flat with something heavy.

11. A screen exposure chart should be included with your emulsion. If not, you will need to test exposure times. A good time to start with is 5 minutes.

12. After your exposure time is up, rinse the screen on both sides. The emulsion that was not exposed to light (because it was blocked by the opaque black areas of the Film Positive) will wash away. Wash the screen until there are very few white bubbles remaining. Store the screen on a flat surface to dry or use a fan. When dry, screen is ready to proof.