How Andy Warhol Used the Screen Print Method
Andy Warhol used photo stencils to create screenprints. He used photos for the stencils. Multiple colors of ink were printed by pressing paint through the screen using a squeegee. Screen printing matched Warhol’s ideas about art. He wanted art to be like mass production. Screen printing allowed duplication. At first, some called the screen printing device a machine.
Warhol’s Screen Printing Process
Warhol’s screen printing process was similar to stenciling. First, he put a photo on silk screen mesh. Then, he passed an ink-covered squeegee over the mesh. The ink went through the mesh and printed the image on the canvas below. He used different inks and canvases. Screen printing let him easily make multiple versions of prints.
How Andy Warhol Screen Printed Marilyn Monroe
In 1967, Warhol published screen prints of Marilyn Monroe through his company, Factory Additions. He printed 10 images from five screens. One screen was the original photo. The other screens emphasized different colors, reflecting Monroe’s personality.
Why Andy Warhol Produced Marilyn Monroe Prints
In 1962, shortly after Monroe’s passing, Warhol used a photograph of the star to create a silkscreen painting of 50 images known as the Marilyn Diptych. A few years later he produced a series of silkscreens of the same photo, except enlarged, with each rendition being rendered in different colors. His aim was to portray famous people like consumer products, showing how status turned celebrities into commodities.
Size of a Marilyn Monroe Screen Print
Andy Warhol’s screen prints of Marilyn Monroe at the Museum of Modern Art in New York are each 91.4 x 91.4 cm.
How Andy Warhol Created His Silk Screens of Marilyn Monroe
Warhol worked with professionals to have the photos he chose transferred onto the mesh of a silk screen. When Warhol passed an ink-laden squeegee over the mesh as the silk screen sat atop his canvas, ink would pass through the mesh and impress a print of his image onto the canvas.
Warhol’s Technique for Making Screen Prints
While Warhol didn’t invent the photographic silkscreen process, he developed his own technique by combining hand-painted backgrounds with photographic silkscreen printed images to create unique works of art. He used photographic silkscreen printing to create his celebrity portraits.