Textiles - Screen Printing

Screen Printing
Screen printing is a printing technique that uses a woven mesh to support an ink-blocking stencil. The attached stencil forms open areas of mesh that transfer ink or other printable materials which can be pressed through the mesh as a sharp-edged image onto a substrate. A fill blade or squeegee is moved across the screen stencil, forcing or pumping ink into the mesh openings for transfer by capillary action during the squeegee stroke. Basically, it is the process of using a stencil to apply ink onto another material.
Screen printing is also a stencil method of print making in which a design is imposed on a screen of polyester or other fine mesh, with blank areas coated with an impermeable substance. Ink is forced into the mesh openings by the fill blade or squeegee and onto the printing surface during the squeegee stroke. It is also known as silkscreen, serigraphy, and serigraph printing. A number of screens can be used to produce a multicoloured image.

Screen printing is a form of stenciling that first appeared in a recognizable form in China during the Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD).  It was then adapted by other Asian countries like Japan, and was furthered by creating newer methods.
Screen printing was largely introduced to Western Europe from Asia sometime in the late 18th century, but did not gain large acceptance or use in Europe until silk mesh was more available for trade from the east and a profitable outlet for the medium discovered.

Textiles - Artists

John Mollo

John Mollo has been interested in European and American military uniforms since a very young age and wrote several books on the subject. This led him to costume design, first being an advisor for the movie Charge of the Light Brigade in 1966 and later a costume designer, his first film being George Lucas' Star Wars in 1977. Mollo has also been a military advisor on the films Zulu Dawn, Barry Lyndon and Nicholas and Alexandria.

He uses Military influences to create Sci-Fi clothing, such as Darth Vaders outfit and the Stormtrooper armor.

Darth Vaders helmet in particular was inspired by WWII Nazi helmets and Gas Masks, with a Samuri feel to it to match the characters use of a sword.





 

 
Lindy Hemming

Lindy Hemming is a Welsh costume designer, who won the Academy Award for Costume Design for Topsy-Turvy (1999). After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, she designed costumes for productions at West End theatres, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, and has also created costumes for the James Bond films from GoldenEye (1995) to Casino Royale (2006).

Other films she has worked on include The Krays, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, as well as Christopher Nolan's Batman films Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises.

On The Dark Knight Rises, she was the main costume designer for Bane, and had to create a look which gave off a feeling of animalistic traits, ragged clothing created from scrap and still look like a bulky brute.
The coat, mask and armor he wears went through multiple design changes.


At the Costume Designers Guild Awards 2008, she won Best Costume Design in a Fantasy Film for The Dark Knight.



Trisha Biggar

Trisha Biggar was the lead costume designer on the Star Wars prequels, and created almost every outfit across the three films.
She used various materials from all around the world to create elegant yet alien looking clothing for the various characters in the film.
On one documentary, she was describing some of Padmé Amidala’s clothing, and one she mentioned was one dress being made from a material which changes colour depending on what lighting is currently being used.
It was dubbed the ‘Peacock Dress’, due to its similarity with the colour changing Peacock birds feathers.