Print Goccoing

This is a Print Gocco, it looks like a toy, but it enables you to make intricate screen prints easily.

You slip in a screen and then place your image that you want to expose on the print bed. This image needs to be drawn either with a special print gocco carbon pen, or it needs to be a photocopy. I've only made prints from carbon pen drawings.

You then need to get the light box and put in the lamps. It takes two flash lamps and they can only be used once. I buy packs of 10 but they still don't last me all that long.

Then fix the light box on top and push down. DON'T look at the flash! It's very very bright. I almost blinded myself when I first exposed a screen! Your drawing will stick to the screen, peel it off slowly.
Your image should now be exposed onto the screen. Take off the light box. Now you have to ink up the screen. This uses a lot of ink, but you have to put enough on it to make it go through the screen. I've also found that when you are mixing colours make sure you mix more than you think you need because if you have to stop and mix more paint while in the middle of printing the screen dries and it gets frustrating.

Pull out the screen, peel back the film, and thickly apply the paint. (sorry I have no photos of this at present)

Now slip the screen back into the gocco, place a trial piece of paper on to the bed, close the top and push down. Your image should be printed! Now continue with the paper of your choice. I normally get about 75 prints, although I do have to top up the ink every now and then.

This post has got rather long, I think I shall continue it another day. There is other work I should be doing! and I wouldn't want you to get bored.

To be continued...!