Possible Up and Coming Thermofax Screens

Possibly.
Maybe.
Well, we'll see (as my mom used to say) (OMG or was that me?)...

A collage of kitties

One cool kitty.

A pack of dogs.

And The Winner Is...

Nancy A.

" Wow! What great screens! I think my favorite is Thermofax Screen Gauze Screen,  but it was really hard to choose. I loved them all! "

Nancy, I will be emailing you to get the info we need to mail the goodies (from me the gauze screen) to you!

Congratulations!

Thermofax 101 DVD With Lyric Kinard

I had the pleasure of reviewing Lyric's DVD on beading (which is spectacular) and now I get to review her new one on Thermofax Screen Printing!

I've been using a thermofax for many years now and selling them for the past 7 or so years.
I learned a couple of really good tips from Lyric on this DVD.

I often point my customers and friends towards online tutorials for more in depth instructions. Since Lyric has made an entire DVD full of great tips, I can happily point them in her direction.

She starts at the very beginning of what a Thermofax screen is and leads you all the way through to designing your own patterns or art cloth.

You can use the screens for so many purposes - art quilting, creating one of a kind clothing, totes and bags, ceramics and pottery, plaster, paper, art journal and the list goes on.

Lyric also covers the in's and out's of fabric paint and the other mediums you can use instead of paint on your screens.

Every single thing you need to know to be successful with Thermofax screen printing is on this DVD.


There is 65 minutes of solid instruction from this fun loving fabric artist.

Chapters:
1. What's a Thermofax: how it's made
2. Creating Imagery: finding and creating designs
3. Printing Techniques: how to use your screens
4. Designing Cloth: layering imagery


I promise that you will absolutely love this DVD.
Lyric's voice has such a calming effect on the listener - no wonder she is a "Teacher of the Year".
She makes the material so easy to understand and digest.

One thing I would add is this tip about taping a screen before you print with it (done to secure the edges as well as stabilize the screen).
A lot of people use duct tape - which some say has to cure (you're supposed to cure it?).
Some use strapping tape but I also use regular Painter's Tape (the blue kind). It holds up great even in the water (when rinsing the screen).

Lyric is generously offering to give a DVD away to a reader from each reviewer's blog. This includes international readers!

To be eligible for the DVD giveaway, hop over to my Etsy shop and choose your favorite image.
Then leave a comment on this post with that answer.

The winner will get their favorite screen as well as the DVD!
You will be able to start screen printing immediately.


I'll let the random number generator pick the winning post on May 16 - after all of the blog hopping has finished.

PLEASE be sure to leave an email address if you do not have a blogger profile that lists yours.
I'll need a way to get in touch with you when you win.

Thanks to you readers for reading, and to Lyric for letting me review the DVD.

The following is a list of reviewers.
Read daily to increase your chances of winning!

I'm not sure if the previous reviewers have chosen their winners yet, so check them out as well.

April 24 Cheryl Rezendez
April 25  Leslie Tucker Jenison
April 28  Sue Bleiweiss
April 30  Judy Gula
May 1  Sue & Elizabeth Gibson 
May 2  Judy Coates Perez
May 4  Linda Stokes
May 6  Jane Davila
May 6 Melanie Testa
May 7  Liz Kettle
May 8  Carol Sloan
May 9  Kathy York 

May 11  Susan Brubaker Knapp  

May 12  Desiree Habicht 

May 13  Jamie Fingal 

May 14  Deborah Boschert  

May 15  Sarah Ann Smith

There are several people that sell Thermofax screens on Etsy (as well as their own websites).

Perhaps if you can't find what you like in one shop, another one will have exactly what you want.

Don't forget that you can create your own design out of a drawing, photo or copyright free image and get someone to make the screen for you (I do this in my shop as well).

There are tons of options when it comes to printing with Thermofax screens and they are all FUN!

Drawing From Nature

I turned my attention to items that were close at hand, and favorites of mine - sticks and flowers.

Sketchbook page-
Tulip Poplar flower, Oak twig end,
eastern Red Cedar branchlet (top left)

close-up of twig

female eastern Red Cedar

female eastern cedar with berries (technically cones with fleshy scales)
watercolor

I liked the tulip poplar flower so I pulled it into Illustrator and tried a few color combos.

I am a complete newbie to digital painting or coloring.
But I can see the addiction of it...

More Pen and Paper

When I want to draw but don't know what I want to draw, I usually turn to some sort of Dover book or the like for ideas.

I found an image that I liked well enough to spend time on.

Mesopotamia hittite image

I downloaded a couple of pages from Dover Pictura and got to work with a light pencil sketch.

Then I covered this sketch with  a pen tracing.
You can still see a tiny bit of the pencil shading that I did on it.

I went back in and pulled out the shading so I would have a better idea for placement of the contrast shading.

This scan has been darkened to show details.

Then the details with a pen.

I really liked using tiny circles for shadowing.

I seem to do better with that instead of crosshatching.


 To each her own, right?