Any medium that will dry to a water-resistant film can be used as screen filler, including acrylic medium (used by painters to extend paint and alter its luster and dried surface), gesso (used by painters to prepare canvasses and other surfaces), many different types of household paint, and even screen-printing ink. Although Mod Podge and gesso are more tolerant to repeated washings than Elmer’s Glue (which will soften up under warm water), a carefully handled Elmer’s-filled screen will last well enough, and it’s hard to beat the price.
For simpler images or text, you might consider tracing your design onto the paper backing of self-adhesive contact paper, cutting it out (keeping in mind that you are going to use the negative of your design and discard the piece that matches the design itself), peeling off the backing, and sticking that stencil directly to the face of your screen—an example of this is shown in Figure 5-6.
If you have trouble with the screen sticking to the substrate, try taping short stacks of pennies to the edges of the frame, so that the screen pops back up after you flood the design.
If you decide you like screen printing, you can get supplies online at a good price. Monofilament polyester screen fabric is about $13 per square yard and can hold very high-resolution images. Making your own frames requires minimal woodworking skills; staple the polyester screen to the frame using a staple gun, first tacking the middle of each edge and then working out to the corners one at a time, tightening as you go.
What draws most folks to screen printing is the prospect of using photo emulsion to transfer complicated designs to the screen. The chemicals for doing this (e.g., Speedball Diazo Photo Screen Printing Emulsions) are around $20 and very easy to work with; the process is much more tolerant of mistakes and stray light than developing photos in a darkroom. If you have a reasonably dim closet, access to a bright lamp, and some way to make transparencies (most copy shops will duplicate onto transparency paper for under a buck), then this is within your grasp.
