Gestural drawing for serigraphy

Abstract

This article aims to examine and respond to the challenge of retaining the vivacity of gestural drawing when translating into the language and techniques of silkscreen printmaking. The interdependent relationships and transitions between the selected media, methodology and the underlying philosophical, phenomenological and lived experience of the practice are discussed. The techniques and materials employed to achieve responsive gestural drawn marks to be retained through the silkscreen exposure and print process are presented. The print appearing to the printmaker at the end of the process demarcates the making of an image for print to that of the completed printed image in its own artistic terms. A single serigraphic portrait is the vehicle for the exploration which began at a lecture at Birmingham School of Art in November 2019, given by Ian Sergeant on: ‘Visual Representations of Black British Masculinity.’