(Cardboad) Block Printed Shirt

i've been a member of this community for a thousand years, but i think this is my first post! i block printed a shirt using cardboard and i took pictures of the process :)

i needed something to wear for a Rock N Bowl fundraiser that is tomorrow afternoon, but i didn't have time to go shopping. i had this tshirt sitting in my FIX ME pile for a few months that i kind of liked. it had some slight bleach marks on the front of it, so i couldn't really wear it without looking dumb.

i decided to stencil BADMINTON on to it since my team's theme is BADMINTON PLAYERS WHO SIGNED UP TO THE WRONG B SPORT. and then i decided to not stencil it when i found this nice bit of corrugated cardboard in my art bin. instead, i decided to try my hand at block printing with it.

to me, stenciling is annoying because you have to cut out negative letters and deal with bridges and bleeding and all that terrible stuff. at least i do since i've never used freezer paper or spray adhesive or anything. this way is SO much better. so i bring you a tutorial of sorts :D

i planned the layout on newsprint first to determine measurements. then i cut out 10 3" squares. after that, i freehanded loose block letters onto 8 of the squares with a pencil. the 2 remaining squares were used to put paint on.

next, i cut out each letter with scissors. i started with the N, then the O and T and worked my way up to the B. i cut into the B from the side and wish i would have done the same with the A and D. their insides were hard to cut around.

i used yellow fabric paint for the first print. it wasn't as opaque as i wanted, so i decided to use another colour on top.

i put green over top of the yellow, turning it into a sort of drop shadow.

i started to add another coat to the green because again it wasn't as intense as i wanted. i think maybe next time i should use more paint on each stamp? it looks pretty gross in this picture, but i blame the paint being wet and the flash. i'm hoping it will look nicer once it dries, lol.

i always have a ton of left over paint in my brush and on my cardboard palette thing that i hate to just waste. so i printed BAD in my fabric paint pencil case. lol. i dont get it either..

i bought these a year or two and this was the first time i used them on a somewhat big project. i really like the colours and plan to print more shirts using this technique :)

the finished shirt. i'm pretty happy with it. i think this shirt works well for the theme considering i didn't really try to be creative or whatever.
i also think it would be cool to just wear whenever, but ESPECIALLY when playing badminton :)

thanks for looking :D

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