The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
Silk-screen printing dates back to at least 500 a.d., when it was used in both China and Japan to print works of art. In Europe, it first appeared in the fifteenth century, when it was used to manufacture religious images and playing cards.
The process of silk-screen printing is relatively simple. The printed stencil (usually made of silk) is stretched over a frame. A viscous ink is then forced through the stencil onto the subject--which can include cloth, paper, wood, plastic, metal, or glass--with a "squeegee," a soft-bladed tool which scrapes across the surface.
The versatility of the method made it a popular means of decorating household furnishings in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. With the 1907 patenting of an automated process by American Samuel Simon, the commercial applications of silk-screen flourished. Today, artificial fabrics have, for the most part, replaced silk as the stencil medium and the technique is primarily used to impress inked patterns on mass-market clothing. Light-sensitive screens are used to reproduce photograph s and illustrations, such as those often seen on T-shirts. The ability of silk-screen printing to apply inks of various thicknesses makes it possible to print weather-resistant images on outdoor signs and billboards.