So I got bored tonight.



Man what could this be?



Hello.



I think it turned out pretty good considering I haven't used an xacto knife since college. I messed up on the edges, but I'm not really broken up about it. As a proof of concept I think it's about as sexy as you can get. With a heavier shirt and properly prepped stencil (I didn't have any spray backing to hold it down) you cold do some pretty trick shit with this.

Can't wait to try round two.

I couldn't love that shirt more if I tried.

Nice!!

That's great! I thought the FOERST picture was the back of the shirt (and his head). MAKE IT HAPPEN.

charlie wrote:That's great! I thought the FOERST picture was the back of the shirt (and his head). MAKE IT HAPPEN.

Hahaha that's actually a pretty awesome idea. Too bad I can't draw for shit. I may surprise myself, though...

Also, a couple observations from last night's attempt:

-Overhead transparencies work really well. I did a couple test runs of the stencil on some scrap cardboard and it held up fine. The cut edges stay really sharp so you don't have to worry about them getting soggy after using them multiple times.
-Be sure to mask off your edges. Even though I tried to be really careful, I still slipped up a bit and went over a couple times.
-Using spray mount will make your life easier. It will not only hold the stencil in place so you have two free hands, it will also keep it from shifting and lifting, which can make your design appear fuzzy or off center. You can see where that happened a couple times near Lionel's mustache and where his eye meets the bridge of his nose.
-Use a new shirt. Old shirts get fuzzy after time and will leave little paint boogers sticking up when you finish painting. I used an old shirt for this test because I didn't really give a shit if I fucked it up. I have a brand-new pack of shirts my mom gave me a couple days ago (they were too small for my dad) so I'll try again on one of those.
-Even after only drying overnight, the paint has set up really nice and didn't crack when I stretched it really hard. The bottle says to wait 72 hours before washing, and I'm somewhat inclined to agree since this is a water-based paint and you wouldn't want it ruining the rest of your clothes if it bled off.
-A little paint goes a long way. I used a styrofoam bowl and put in just enough to cover the bottom after shaking it a bit and still had some left over after doing 3 heavy coats.

The direction in which this is going peaks my interest!

Good call on the transparency.

Yeah you can get a 100 pack for like, $15

that's awesome!!!! i'm about to ditch the thermofax or start tattooing myself....

I'm seriously looking into making my own screens now. I found a local place that sells the photo emulsifier and I've got some spare linen and a staple gun at the house for making frames. Depending on how money looks in a few weeks I may give it a shot.