I want to share with you a few photographs of the d.i.y. jig I created recently to help me register and print my multicoloured screen-prints. I am using a Daler Rowney screen-printing kit which cost approximately £40.

The jig consists of a wooden ply board base with a baton of wood attached to it at one end. I have glued plastic corrugated spacers to the board which allows a 2mm space between the board and the screen.

The Daler Rowney screen is attached to the board with metal door hinges and screws. This allows the screen to be tilted at 45 degrees for charging the screen with ink.

The printmaker can align the paper using the registration markers that are attached to the board. The registration markers are basically stripes of masking tape.

I have found the jig to be of great help when printing a block of colour. I use drawing ink and pink masking fluid to apply a mask to the screen. I have also found using parcel tape is another quick and easy way to mask a simple area on the screen. The only disadvantage of this is that the ink can bleed through if the tape is not fixed to the screen properly. Afterwards, I use a high pressure water spray, old toothbrush and bicarbonate of soda to remove the masking fluid once printing has finished.

Overall the results have been good and I feel I am getting more experienced with this type of printmaking. I have created a list of colours to print. So far I am up to Vermillion (colour number 6), which is for the red door. I had to add a bit of white to the Vermillion Red so it would stand out on the print from the other colour previously printed.

I will post my final print on the blog soon.