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New Media Movie Making Camps at the U of L

I’m teaching the New Media Movie Making Camp at the University again this summer. (The photo displayed in the link is of a student silk screening a shirt in the Art Camp – looks like they have a lot of fun in that camp too).

I will be teaching four one week camps that run each week in July. During each camp my students write their own scripts, film, edit, add special effects, and burn their movies to DVD. On Friday, the students’ families are invited for a screening. It’s been two days so far, but so far the students have been fun as usual and I’m really enjoying it again this year.

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Happy First of July

Today is Canada Day! I had lunch with a huge extended family at my Aunt Lois’ house. We chatted, we ate, and we took some photos – it was a good time.

Afterwards, Corry, Aaron, and I went kayaking down the Belly River. I love the 1st of July.

I would have more kayaking photos, but as we were playing in the hole where Aaron usually takes his camera out I got flipped and although I was able to right myself, somehow the seal on my skirt came undone and my kayak filled up with water. I was up-side-down, completely submerged with a kayak that was completely full of water but I still flipped myself up and paddled to shore. It looked more like a submarine than a boat. Anyway I drifted pretty far downstream and didn’t feel like taking my kayak back up to the hole, hence no pictures.

Update: Oh, and I forgot to mention this at the time of posting. Happy Anniversary to my sister and her husband Glen!

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Blinkenlights

I stumbled upon a site about a building in Paris that has its lighting setup like a display for images, short animations, and even video games. Using a cell phone you can play Tetris, pong, or other games live while everyone around watches you play.

Blinkenlights: Arcade Games

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CBC Podcast of Quirks and Quarks

I’ve been discovering the joys of podcasts lately; the new version of iTunes is really handy for getting new content. I should mention that even if you don’t have an MP3 player like an iPod, you can still listen on your computer.

There is one podcast in particular that I really love. It’s the CBC Radio’s program Quirks and Quarks. I highly recommend adding their feed. (http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/quirks.xml)

This week the topics ranged from Australian Spiders that eat each other during copulation to how biologists are creating real life chimeras, and as well the ethical and moral questions that come along with such endeavors. They also talked about Chickadee speech patterns and how radiation, something that is known to cause cancer, can be used to treat it. It’s really fascinating stuff.


I’d like to expand my podcasting palette, so if you’ve got a good podcast please leave a comment with the feed.

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Do It Yourself Silk Screening Tutorial

Inspired by Kristy (girlx512)’s tutorial, I’ve decided to make my own brief tutorial on how to make a multi-coloured screen printed t-shirt.

The supplies you will need include:
Materials

  • prewashed tshirt
  • a 5-10 inch embroidery hoop (having more than one means you can prepare all the screens for all colours before you start)
  • sheer curtain material, nylons, or tulle (I used the sheer curtains)
  • Non Water soluable Glue (I used Mod Podge)
  • screen printing ink or acrylic paint + fabric medium (I used paint and medium)
  • paint brush with stiff bristles (optional but recommended)
  • a design, either drawn freehand or printed from a computer

Directions:

  1. Find or create your design. This can be done either on the computer or as a drawing. The image should be high in contrast and not too detailed. Pretty much any design that you can paint, you can make. Make sure your design fits inside the embroidery hoop. It should be small enough to leave at least one inch from the edge of the hoop. I think a smaller hoop is better if you have a tiny design because the screen will be tighter, but even though it was unnecessary for me to use such a large embroidery hoop with my design, it still worked fine.
    Photoshopping T-Shirt DesignI created my image in photoshop and printed it the size I wanted it to appear on the shirt.

    Sheer Curtain MaterialStretch the sheer curtain into the embroidery hoop and tighten it. It should be as tight as you can make it without wrecking the hoop or tearing the fabric. The embroidery hoop can then be tightened to hold the screen in place.
  2. Place the hoop on top of your image sheer curtain side down.
  3. Tracing the Design

    Using a pencil, pen, or felt, trace the image onto the screen. The outline should be clear so that you know where to fill in the glue. Accuracy becomes more important if you are adding more than one colour on your shirt.

  4. Mod Podging the ScreenMod Podge all the areas where you don’t want the first colour to go through. I used an old paint brush but spreading it using just your fingers works even though it takes longer to dry. Also remember, when you apply the Mod Podge, to avoid gluing it to your workspace the screen should not be touching anything. Flip it over so that the side with the sheer curtain is up. At this point you have the option to use tape or other adhesive materials to cover/clog the larger areas, but if you want to make more than one shirt with the same screen, it needs to be washable.
  5. For single coloured shirts skip this step. Repeat steps 1 – 5 on a second screen. This time leave the areas open for your second colour. It’s okay to overlap colours a little bit, but depending on what look you are going for, try to be as accurate as possible.
  6. Mix Acryllic With Fabric Medium

    Since I didn’t have screen printing ink, I had to mix the acrylic paint with fabric medium. The type I used needs to be mixed in a 2 to 1 — paint to fabric medium — ratio, but read the label just in case. Think about how much paint you will need to cover the entire screen because if you don’t mix enough the first time, you may have to mix more and the consistency might change. I ended up having to mix more for this t-shirt but it turned out okay anyway.

  7. Screen Printing

    Make sure you remembered to pre-wash your shirt. It’s a waste of time, effort, and materials if the shirt shrinks after the screen printing is done. Position the embroidery hoop and screen against the shirt where you want the image to be printed. Once you have it placed in the correct spot, apply the paint by dabbing the brush up and down in a stippling motion. I put a piece of paper inside the shirt to prevent the paint from going onto the back side.

  8. Remove the screen and give the shirt time to dry.
  9. Repeat steps 7 – 9 using the second embroidery hoop and applying the second colour. Line the second embroidery hoop up as carefully as possible to match the first colour’s position. A little overlap is okay if you are going for that look.
  10. The instructions on the bottle of fabric medium recommend ironing the image before washing as well washing inside out.

    Here is the final look of the design:

    Palm Tree T-Shirt Design


  11. The screen can be used over, so if you want to reuse it don’t forget to wash it out before the paint dries.
My New Shirt

Here I am wearing my new t-shirt in my parents back yard. I couldn’t quite wait and as a result it was still a little wet when I put it on. I think if I were to make this shirt again, I would put the logo a little more to the wearer’s left. It seems a little too high and close to the centre for my liking.
Continue reading “Do It Yourself Silk Screening Tutorial”

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MIT Blog Survey

After reading a post I saw on BoingBoing.net I decided to take an MIT Weblog survey.

This is a general social survey of the greater weblog community being conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Our goal is to help understand the way that weblogs are affecting the way we communicate with each other. Specifically we are interested in issues of demographics, communication behaviors, experience with weblogs and other technology, and the meaning of various types of social links within the blogosphere.

If you have a blog and you want to participate, click the image link below:

Take the MIT Weblog Survey

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Medicine Hat

Summer has started and the days are already starting to get shorter – how disappointing. I drove to Medicine Hat this morning and spent the day with my family. Gary was here and together we bought the supplies for printing designs onto blank tshirts. We never made any yet though, because this afternoon we got distracted watching a couple episodes of Band of Brothers; also I couldn’t think of a good idea to print.

Gary had his new camera with him, and the photo above was taken with it. I was hoping to take a few pictures while I am here (and I still am), but so far I’ve only taken a couple and nothing really amazing to anyone that isn’t a direct relative. But since I brought it up, here’s one of Gary too.