The Substance: Ink, Not Dye
This is the first, most important distinction. Most cheap, commercial printing—whether that's high-volume offset or your inkjet printer at home—uses dye-based or solvent inks. These are usually watery, designed to soak into the paper, and generally rely on transparency and blending to simulate colour. They are great for reproducing gradients and fine detail quickly, but they lack longevity and vibrancy.
Screen printing, conversely, deals exclusively in pigment. These inks are thick, opaque pastes—closer to paint than ink. When the squeegee pushes the ink through the mesh and onto the paper, it sits on top of the substrate, building a physical layer. You can often feel the slight texture of the ink deposit. This is why screen prints hold a depth and saturation that digital prints can only dream of. The colour is literally physical, baked onto the paper. It resists fading and degradation far better than quick-fix digital dyes.
When you look closely at a quality screen print, you see the build-up. You see the surface texture. It has weight. It’s not some glorified office printer spitting out dye; it's paint, applied selectively, layer by physical layer.
Intentional Colour: Beyond CMYK
If you've ever dealt with commercial print design, you know about CMYK: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (Black). Digital printing works by mixing tiny dots of these four colours (often microscopic) to trick your eye into seeing every other colour in the spectrum. It’s a simulation technique. If you want a deep orange, the printer mixes yellow and magenta dots until your brain says "orange."
In screen printing, we don't simulate. We use Spot Colour. If I need a specific, electric acid green, I don’t rely on four dots; I mix that exact, unique shade of green in a bucket before I start. I use a specific Pantone reference, or I mix it by eye until it's perfect. That is one screen, one pull, one single, brilliant layer of guaranteed, pure green.
This commitment to pure colour is why the vibrancy in screen prints is unmatched. There is no fuzziness or simulation. Each colour in a piece of Oli Fowler Art requires its own dedicated screen, its own meticulously mixed batch of pigment, and its own time on the press. It’s a longer, more labour-intensive method, but the result is a piece of art that truly pops off the paper, rather than sinking into it.
The Human Element: Registration and Control
The biggest difference between a screen print and a digital print, however, is the human control and inevitable flaw inherent in the process. Digital printing is about repeatable, flawless precision dictated by a machine's coordinates. Screen printing is about controlled chaos.
When laying down four colours, I have to 'register' each screen perfectly against the paper and the preceding layers. This is done by hand. I rely on my eye and the precision of the press mechanism, but the slight shifting of the paper, the variable viscosity of the ink, and the pressure of the squeegee introduce tiny, unique variations. We call these happy accidents.
It is these small, human decisions—a slightly heavier pull here, a microscopic shift in registration there—that confirm the print as a true piece of original art. It’s why every print in a limited edition run is slightly unique. It carries the weight of the moment it was pulled, capturing the atmosphere of the studio and the physical effort involved.
When you buy a screen print, you are buying more than just the image. You are buying a highly specialised, physical craft. You are investing in pigment that will last, colour integrity that digital methods can’t replicate, and the tangible evidence of skill applied directly to the medium. You are purchasing a physical object that has been built, layer by layer, with intent and passion.
If you want to see the result of this passion and process firsthand, please take a look at the latest work available in the studio.
Browse the latest screen prints and art editions now at olifowler.com.