All about silkscreens

An art in itself

The method begins by delicately breaking down the original artwork into its individual colours and textures, before reconstructing them through a series of finely stretched mesh screens.

Firstly, a chromist isolates each single colour of the original artwork and hand mixes paint by sight to match it. Each colour is transferred on to the canvas or paper using its own screen to capture the rich hues and brushstrokes in the original painting, meaning one silkscreen can take months to create.

The preparation of each screen itself is a multi-step process, often involving UV-sensitive inks, acetate sheets, and curing techniques. These steps help define which areas of the screen will allow ink to pass through and which will remain blocked.

Once the screen is ready, ink or paint is applied using various techniques - rolling, pressing, sponging or hand-pulling a squeegee across the screen. This artisan approach allows the artist to accurately reconstruct the artwork using carefully aligned layers to build depth, texture and vibrancy. This ensures a rich, dynamic final print that faithfully captures the essence of the original design.

Featured Art: 'San Francisco Bay'. A hand-signed limited-edition silkscreen print with pigmented and acrylic resin ink on Coventry Rag 320gsm vellum white paper.

Where it began

Silkscreens are believed to have originated in China as far back as 1000 years ago. It is said that, before silk was available, human hair was used to weave a mesh for a screen because it was durable yet fine enough to tolerate paint being pushed through the holes.

The technique was introduced to Western Europe in the late 18th century, but was not widely used until silk mesh became easier to get hold of.  

In the mid-20th century, Pop Art pioneers like Andy Warhol and James Francis Gill brought silkscreens to the forefront of contemporary art. Once a closely guarded trade secret, Warhol helped modernise the use of screen printing for reproduction. Warhol was particularly clever in his use of silkscreens as a route to market for his artwork, because the very process itself mirrored the repetitive consumer culture he was depicting in his artworks.

Just as supermarkets stocked shelves of identical Coca-Cola bottles and Hollywood studios mass-produced celebrity images, Warhol’s fine art silkscreens replicated his iconic subjects - Marilyn Monroe, Campbell’s soup cans, and dollar bills - making them more accessible to a consumer market. By adopting a process designed for reproduction, he blurred the lines between fine art and commercialism, making his work both a critique and a product of the contemporary culture it represented.

The nature of silk-screen reproduction initially raised questions about the artist's direct connection to the work, however Warhol’s use of the method became its own artistic and cultural statement, perfectly aligned with the visual language of the times.

Featured Art: 'Marilyn Leaving in Pink'. A Hand-signed Silkscreen on Paper Limited Edition by James Francis Gill.

Silkscreens today

Silk-screening remains an important technique used by many artists all over the world, valued not only for its historical significance but also for the incredible quality and craftsmanship it brings to every print. This meticulous, hand-pulled process ensures lasting colour with subtle variations that make every print one-of-a-kind - qualities that continue to make silk-screening a revered method in contemporary art.

One of our artists with a particularly special silkscreen connection is Paul Stephenson.

In 2010, Stephenson purchased a collection of Andy Warhol’s original acetates and began producing what experts have termed ‘authentic Warhol paintings’. Created using Warhol's original materials and precisely following his original techniques, in collaboration with the Warhol’s original screen printer, he has recreated some of the most iconic images of the 20th century.

Featured by the likes of Vice, The Times and the BBC, Paul’s faithful rendering led his art to be titled ‘posthumous Warhols’ by the late Warholian expert Rainer Crone.

Featured Art: 'Cow IV- Fluorescent Pink On Fluorescent Yellow'. Hand-signed three colour hand-pulled silkscreen limited edition on 400gsm paper by Paul Stephenson.