Screen Printed Hot Rod Garage Wooden Sign

Screen Printed Hot Rod Garage Wooden Sign

Screen printing on wood is actually a very easy process (in case anyone thought it was intimidating or complicated). I created the image myself using a Hot Rod clip-art image and creating the text all in a WordDoc on my PC. I'm pretty impressed with how it came out, and I did reference vintage hot rod posters for the artwork.

Once my design was created, I printed it on my HP Officejet printer using ink jet transparencies. If you need help with the transparency/printer process, here's a how-to tutorial to get you started.

Using my printed transparency, I made the silk screen stencil following the step-by-step instructions. Once that was finished, I started working on the wood sign.

For the base color, I applied a thin layer of Speedball screen printing ink in Peacock Blue on a plain 8"x10" wood plaque found at my local Michael's craft store. I wanted to see the wood grain through the ink so only one layer was applied. Once it dried, I positioned the stencil over the plaque and got it centered. No adhesive or tape was used. Holding the stencil in place with my left hand, I screen printed black Speedball ink with a 4" squeegee over the stencil. I typically check for voids before removing the entire stencil, but in this case I was going for an aged or vintage look so I didn't mind any small areas that didn't get enough ink. The stencil was rinsed off and the wood sign air dried for about an hour.

Voila! My project was finished and it didn't take more than a few minutes of actual physical work. Since this sign is staying indoors, no clear coat was applied.

If you'd like to see a step-by-step tutorial of the screen printing process, check out my other blog post on printing a mandala wood coaster.