It's two, two, TWO replies in one!
Theo wrote:
The rough drafts & revisions are part of the process too... but as you please. Your results are improving dramatically & rapidly.
Do you thin it down beforehand? Do you need to heat-set it after? Have you put any of the shirts through the wash yet?
I wouldn't say that using parts you had on hand already is cheating. If they work, they work; good on you for having the foresight (and storage space).
1. Yes, rough drafts and revisions are part of the process, but I prefer to include them at the end of the document in the "Where I went wrong and how you can avoid it" section. Merely personal preference.
2. I did not thin the paint, but I probably will on the next pass. I did not heat set it, but that also might be a good idea. I have not washed them either, yet, so I don't know how permanent the printing is. From my experiences with ruined clothing and painting, I'm guessing that the image will remain visible and legible long after the actual paint on the shirt has flaked off.
3. By "cheating" I meant, cheating in the sense that it artificially depressed the cost of the process. Sure, I could post an Instructable saying "Screen printing for less than $10!" but that's only because I had paint, I had fabric, I had tape, I had shirts, and I had frames. Someone who needed to acquire any or all of those things would be looking at a much higher price tag. Reusing material-on-hand is never truly cheating- it's the staple of making!
metis wrote:
very nice. digging the sparks icons for logo parts, what about adding in other diciplines iconography for other letters?
I actually kind of thought it might be cool for each discipline to pick and develop a logo unto itself. The core font could remain the same for all of us, but people like me with a more electrical bent could use the transistor-capacitor-resistor logo, whereas a metal-workey type could fit in an anvil and hammer, woodworkers might find a way to work in a saw, hammer and nails, and someone with a softer touch might use a sewing machine, needle, spool of thread or similar. Perhaps we create a library of logos- four or five takes on each word, and each person can mix and match. Of course, that would be painful now, since I'm cutting the mask by hand, but if we wanted to hire it done, or let the people cut their own masks, that could work too.