Dabbing Technique as a Means of Acquiring Images for Hand-screen Printing

Abstract

The art of screen printing largely depends on images captured from both natural and artificial sources. Obviously, with the upsurge of technology in the 21st century, images are easily captured with different kinds of cameras. Notwithstanding, creativity is propelled by a shift from normalcy from the artistic point of view. Innovative approaches to image acquisition for the conservation of textiles printing techniques, especially hand screen printing, can never be overemphasised. This study explores dabbing as an innovative image-capturing technique from found objects for textile printing with inspiration from the Rayograph technique by Man Ray. The Art studio-based research design under the Qualitative research method was employed for the study. Two approaches (Direct and Indirect dabbing) became significant. The studio exploration yielded to four articles comprising two printed fabrics for apparel purposes and two wall hangings for decorative purposes. A complement of the dabbing technique with screen printing was observed to be an innovative approach to the conservation of textile printing. It gives artists a great opportunity to utilise found objects in their surroundings that go a long way to minimize waste. The study recommends the Dabbing technique to textile design practitioners/learners as a technique worth-considering in textile design and printing.