How a silkscreen is born
Among all fine-art printing techniques, silkscreen printing is perhaps the one that most successfully combines craftsmanship, engineering precision, human gesture, and expressive potential. Although widely used in industrial visual communication, in the realm of art it acquires an autonomous, complex and surprisingly sophisticated identity: a slow, layered, physical process in which every variable - from the mesh count of the screen to the viscosity of the ink, from the hardness of the squeegee to the hand of the printmaker - contributes directly to the final result.
In this article, we explore how a fine-art silkscreen is truly made, not through the simplified explanations of theory books, but through a complete and accurate look at the practices used by professional printmakers. It is a technical and cultural narrative, because silkscreen printing is not merely a mechanical process - it is a language.
1. Silkscreen printing: a name that reveals its origin
The word derives from seri (silk) and graphia (writing): literally, writing through silk.
Early intuitive versions of this principle appear in several ancient cultures. According to some reconstructions, the Phoenicians observed that pigments and liquids flowed only through holes or gaps, imagining that a textile surface with both open and blocked areas could control the passage of color.
Modern silkscreen printing developed much later, but the logic remains identical: each print is the result of an image that “passes through” only where the screen has been intentionally left open.
2. The screen: the physical matrix that defines quality
Everything begins with the frame, now almost always made of aluminum (wood is used only for specific projects).
A polyester mesh is tightly stretched across this frame. The tension must be uniform, stable, and carefully calibrated according to the density and complexity of the colors to be printed.
The mesh is measured in threads per square centimeter:
Coarse meshes (8–40 threads) allow the passage of dense, heavy inks.
Fine meshes (up to 120 threads per cm²) allow extremely sharp detail, even the faithful reproduction of brushstrokes.
Selecting the mesh is a true artistic-technical decision: too tight and the ink won't pass; too open and precision is lost.
3. Photosensitive emulsion: when light “etches” the matrix
The mesh is coated with a photosensitive emulsion, spread evenly and left to dry for roughly twelve hours with the printing side facing downward.
This orientation is critical: the surface that will contact the paper must be perfectly smooth to ensure even ink deposition.
When the emulsion is dry, the screen is placed under a UV light source together with the acetate prepared by the artist or printmaker.
Where the acetate is transparent, light passes through and hardens the emulsion.
Where it is black, the light is blocked and the emulsion remains soluble.
The screen is then washed: the unexposed, unhardened emulsion dissolves, leaving tiny open areas. These micro-passages are precisely where the ink will flow during printing.
It is the true “engraving” of silkscreen printing - a sculpture of voids.
4. The hand-drawn acetate: where the artist’s gesture lives
This is the decisive difference between fine-art silkscreen printing and industrial production.
An acetate can be generated digitally - useful for CMYK separations - but in professional art printing, the acetate is usually drawn by hand.
This means the artist (or their technician) paints in black all the areas where the color should pass.
Each acetate corresponds to one color, and therefore to one screen.
If the artist draws a gesture similar to a brushstroke, that gesture will transfer perfectly to the final print, identical in its irregularity: it is the printed equivalent of the artist’s “hand” in a unique work.
In complex projects, the number of screens can be very high, each one prepared and registered with absolute precision.
5. Polychromy: one screen for every color
This is where fine-art silkscreen printing departs completely from industrial four-color printing.
In CMYK printing, four screens reconstruct the full image.
In polychrome silkscreen, each color is manually separated from the artwork, defined by the artist, and transformed into its own acetate.
The process is slower, but it guarantees perfect fidelity to the artist’s intention: no algorithm selecting average tones, no artificial interpolation - only real color, chosen, decided and layered.
6. Printing: squeegee, pigment, pressure
Ink is deposited on the screen and pushed through the mesh using a rubber squeegee.
The hardness and flexibility of the squeegee dramatically influence the result:
a softer squeegee deposits more ink;
a harder one creates flatter, sharper planes of color.
Manual printing requires strength, coordination, and rhythm: pressure must remain consistent, as must the speed of the gesture. It is far from a mechanical procedure — it is a physical practice that leaves subtle, decisive traces.
Even with identical screens, an experienced printmaker will achieve a quality that a beginner cannot replicate. It is, quite literally, a craft.
7. Relief and materiality: when silkscreen becomes chromatic sculpture
Unlike intaglio or relief printing (woodcut, etching, engraving), which create depressions due to pressure, silkscreen printing can produce genuine raised surfaces of color.
Using dense pigments and low-mesh screens, ink can accumulate into tactile layers.
This is one of the most captivating aspects for collectors: a silkscreen can be seen but also felt.
8. Paper: Somerset and the tradition of historic mills
Paper is never a neutral support.
Among the finest available is Somerset, produced in England since the eighteenth century using traditional methods. Its long fibers, its ability to absorb pigment without deforming, and the availability of round mold-made sheets make it ideal for fine-art printing.
A great silkscreen can only exist on great paper. It is a symbiotic relationship.
The Warhol case: a solid investment
Andy Warhol’s silkscreens have become a benchmark for understanding the economic behavior of fine-art editions.
A Marilyn from 1967 purchased in the early 2000s for around €15,000 can now be worth €150,000–300,000.
Similar trajectories apply to Flowers, Mao, Electric Chair, Ladies & Gentlemen, and many others.
The market attributes increasing value to editions because they combine:
defined and controlled edition sizes;
an autonomous artistic language (not derived from a unique work);
international recognizability;
stable, cross-generational demand.
Andy Warhol
Ladies & Gentlemen, 1975
Silkscreen on paper
110,5 x 72,4 cm
And above all, because they constitute a more accessible entry point into the blue-chip art world without compromising quality.
What to buy today
1. Major Artists, still accessible (€10,000–15,000)
With a budget range of approximately €10,000–15,000, several of Andy Warhol’s historic print series remain notably undervalued and accessible. This is certainly true of Ladies & Gentlemen (1975): an explosive, timely body of work, well positioned in today’s market and with considerable room for further appreciation. Equally compelling are other editions such as Magazine and History (Bunte) (1983), typically around €10,000; the Flash – November 22, 1963 series (1968), generally ranging between €7,000 and €9,000; Lillian Carter (1977), around €9,000; Flowers (Hand-Colored) (1974), around €10,000; Mao (Wallpaper) (1974), also around €10,000; among others.
By contrast, all forms of “memorabilia” lacking historical depth or authoritative cataloguing should be disregarded.
2. Highly sought-after contemporaries (€500–3,000)
For collectors looking to begin with quality and intention, these artists offer outstanding opportunities:
Robert Longo, Derrick Adams, Harland Miller, Yoshitomo Nara, Eddie Martinez, Amoako Boafo, Cleon Peterson, Odinakachi Okoroafor, Anish Kapoor, and others working closely with professional print studios.
Odinakachi Okoroafor (1987)
Chioma at the pool, 2025
Five‑colour screenprint on Somerset TS RW 410 gsm paper
Edition of 20 + 4 AP
Conclusion
Silkscreen printing is both ancient and contemporary. It is craftsmanship, luminous engraving, human gesture, conceptual design - a complete artistic practice, not a cheaper alternative to painting.
Understanding how a silkscreen is created means understanding why limited editions have become one of the most vital sectors in today’s art market: because they require expertise, because they have their own internal economy, because they endure.
And because, thanks to their technical nature, they remain among the most compelling artworks one can live with.