The Birth of Screenist

So I used to be a photographer.

I say "used to" because my brain has recently been kidnapped by another art form, which this blog will be devoted to.  But back when photography was my one and only, there was a blog I was (OK, still am) obsessed with: Strobist.

Strobist is about learning photographic lighting.  The thing about lighting is that it is treated like the most arcane secret in all of photography.  Go ahead, try to find a decent book on photographic lighting, I dare you.  You'll find something on the subject, probably a book that assumes you already have $25,000 worth of lighting equipment (right, because I decided to open a studio and then learn how to light from a $25 book).  

OK, so then try the web.  Nothing there either, at least nothing coherent, nothing an average person could follow or benefit from.  Until the arrival of Strobist.

 

So what's so special about Strobist?  

It's aimed at AMATEURS, at the people who don't know what they are doing, have no money, not much time and a short attention span.  It's starts at the beginning (Lighting 101), explains the principles, the basic gear, and how to get started in a accessible, un-intimidating way that a monkey with Down's Syndrome could understand.

Now, with that said, let's get back to how this blog started.  

I've always wanted to make my own t-shirts.  Since I was like 10.  I never really did anything about it, but the thought kept marinating in the back of my mind for, oh say, 15 years.  When I was 25 I decided "Fuck it, I'm going to lean how to do this" and I asked for a Speedball Screen Printing Starter Kit for Christmas.  Which I promptly put in my closet for a year.  But a year later, I actually remembered that I had it and dragged that sucker out.

So, like the good little technical writer that I am, I read the instructions.  Here's what I learned: Screen printing is NOT intuitive, and neither are Speedball's instruction manuals.  So after making a total mess of my apartment and ruining several articles of clothing, I went to plan B, a.k.a. Google.  

Google basically said "good fucking luck buddy".  So did Wikipedia.  So did EVERYTHING.  Then I start wondering, "Where is the Strobist of screen printing?  There has to be one right???"  The answer is no.  There isn't one.  There is no Screen Printing for Dummies.  According to the Internet, the only people in the world who screen print are emo hippies from Seattle and they ain't saying nothing.

Six months later, I'm now 27, and I have struggled through the process of learning screen printing largely through painful trial and error.  I'm no pro, hell I'm barely competent, but I'm ready to start sharing the little that I know, and learn from any of the talented screen printers who may one day stumble across this blog.

What Strobist has done for photography and for lighting needs to be done for screen printing, and although I'm not the best candidate to do it, at least I'm willing to try:

Welcome to Screenist.