Opening the Screen Door: Ernesto Olivo Tea Bands abouts Screen-printing and Survival — By? Evan Ortega , Photo bye fk Gustafson One of the colors and sizes, with a multitude of designs on them fo convey sense of style. Concertgoers have long sought the t-shirt the moment they walk through the gates ofa show, shelling out ah average $25-$40, In order to have wearable proof of having attended, In this new age of music, tere has been a shift away from traitional record companies, tothe Individual marketing potential ofthe musician. No longer are CO sales and shows enough fo make money; merchandising is the bulk of the profits - if one goes so far as to Label them “profits.” For Bh struggling bands out on the road, merchandise is often the only thing that keeps the gas inthe tank, } food in the stomachs and any unforeseen charges in check. As with many in today's recession, bands are always looking for a way to save or make a buck. Some poople never realize that with alittle know-how and ‘creativity, the casual individual can make their own t-shirt. The process is called silkscreen printing lor simply screen- | printing] and music scene veteran, Ernesto Olivo is one of the purveyors ofthe skill. # _Adrummer in his own right, Olivo learned the skill of printing by a member of one of his former bands, Chapstik. The friond showed him how easy ‘screen-printing is when done by an experienced hand, and the varieties of uses that it could be used for. Soon, Olivo was taking that knowledge and! ‘experimenting with eifferent designs, becoming increasingly comfortable with the craft. Now a teacher with Artpace in San Antoni Olive travels to different schools in the ares, giving presentations about Artpace, as well as getting the students to participate in art projects. He is a guest speaker for grads 1-2 and atthe university level, and he says that screen-printing is always among the most well received activities, In screen-printing, a square frame ~ either metal or wood ~ has a fine mesh sheet placed upon it. The mesh screen can be either extremely fine, or ‘more porous depending on the design to be used ~ the higher the mesh count, the more detail one would be able to put ona design. A clean screen is. first coated in photo stencil emulsion (aliquid that gets harder when exposed to light), and allowed to dry. A two-dimensional design Is then printed on | a thin sheet of velum or transparency paper. Once the design is on the transparent paper, it s placed and taped on the screen with emulsion and set, under a light bulb. The wattage ofthe bulb makes a difference on exposure time: The higher the wattage, the lower the time. A 150-watt incandescent Light, at a height of 12, takes 46 minutes to expose an B°xt0" Image. The parts of the emulsion exposed inthe clear areas of the design harden under | the light, while the darkened parts ofthe design allow for the emulsion to be washed of, leaving an exposed negative design on the mesh. Once the ‘mesh is ready, a small dab of paint such as Plastisol and a squeegee is all that is needed to transform an ordinary t-shirt inte a personal billboard, When, Using Plastisol, one would have to “heat cure" the shirt before itis ready to wear; this can be done either by putting the shirt in the dryer or by taking ahair dryer toi. } say that he as sean ands that carry screen rams with them whl thy ae on tou, and whenever hee in need of ew merchandise, they head ateeal store suchas Walgreens or Target uypachayes flank arta A package thie aria cane furchased fora 98 asc Unyarat alta he aeto bel fo murs eso ts yrnering nf esraees ora poche ate ght nelle Pca F-BN sed tat he uaiy of he shirtrealy does mater recalling sean concertgoers ws have passed up purchasing oti when fing ou wt ing f/ SEoein os boesscepmnte nue rtene berate onoabor ES tees 0) pee Shirts aren't the only things that can be printed using the screen - posters are also very common, as are hoodies and tote bags. The creative possibili- ties are endless witha silk-screen printer, and Ernesto Olive is on a mission to educate as many people as he can with his skil. Having already hag one seminar on the subject, put together in conjunction with local musicians collective, Local 782 (with which he Is involve), Olivo will be hosting work- shops periodically this spring. He plans to hold the workshops at different locations, not only to get the word out that screen-printing isnot only fun and creative, bt for bands, it could potentially be a lifesaver.