The Technical Truth: Density and Depth of Ink
The biggest, most fundamental difference between a cheap digital print and a true screen print comes down to the ink. It’s chemistry, pure and simple.
Digital printing (like the stuff that pops out of your office machine or most large-format photo printers) uses four transparent colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Key (Black)—CMYK. To create any other color, these tiny transparent dots are laid next to each other, relying on your eye to blend them visually. The ink deposit is microscopic, absorbed immediately into the paper fibres. That’s why digital prints often look flat and shiny.
Screen printing flips this whole idea on its head. We don’t use tiny transparent dots. We use thick, often opaque, custom-mixed inks—think Pantone colours—that we mix ourselves until they hit the exact shade required. When I pull that squeegee across the screen, I’m laying down a solid, dense layer of pigment onto the paper’s surface. This ink doesn’t just soak in; it creates a physical layer, a ‘deposit’ you can actually feel with your fingers.
This density is why the colours in a true screen print hold their vibrancy and don't fade into the background. They punch out. This depth of colour is the hallmark of any high-quality print you see from Oli Fowler Art.
When Perfection is Millimetres Away: The Art of Registration
Screen printing is a layered medium. If I’m making a four-colour print, that means the piece of paper has to be placed, printed, dried, and then re-placed and re-printed three more times—once for every colour.
The act of lining up those separate layers of colour perfectly is called ‘registration.’ If my alignment is off by even a single millimetre, the whole print is ruined. This process isn't automated; there’s no magic sensor checking the accuracy. It requires intense concentration, years of practice, and often, delicate manual adjustments to the hinges and clamps of the press between every single print run.
This is where the 'hand-pulled' element truly earns its name. Each individual print, even within a limited edition of 50, has passed through my hands four times. That time, patience, and physical effort is what separates a genuine piece of original art from a mass-produced poster.
Stop Calling it a 'Reproduction'
One final point I often make to people asking about the process: screen prints are not reproductions. A limited edition screen print is considered an original work of art, distinct from the initial design. Why?
Because the act of printing itself defines the final piece. The texture created by the mesh, the specific way the ink bleeds into the paper's edge, and even the subtle variance in the pressure of the squeegee mean that every print within an edition is unique—it’s an original multiple. This is why artists sign and number their work. We’re guaranteeing that this print was part of a carefully managed, small batch where the quality and process were entirely controlled, start to finish, by human hands.
Ultimately, when you hold a screen print, you're not just holding a picture. You are holding a physical artefact built layer by layer, where the materiality of the ink and the skill of the alignment define its beauty. It’s a genuine object made with intent, skill, and a healthy dose of muscle power.
Want to see the results of all that elbow grease? Browse the latest hand-pulled original prints and art apparel in the store now.
Cheers,
Oli