On a recent trip to Baltimore, I stopped by one of my favorite stores in the area, Atomic Books. Amongst the shelves of independently published material, one book in particular caught my attention. It was ‘Do-It-Yourself Screen printing’ by john Isaacson, a cartoonist, illustrator and t-shirt printer.
What makes ‘Do It Yourself Screen printing’ so interesting and unique is that although it is a ‘how to’ book, it shows you how to screen print taking you through a story of sort from the perspective of the Author. Illustrated like a comic book and described as ‘an instructional graphic novel’, the book offers a very informative insight into the world of screen printing your own T-shirts.
The book was originally published in three volumes, with this edition collecting each part together into one book. Chapter one of this book tells the story of a humble man printing designs with anything he can lay his hands on whilst taking you through the basics of screen printing with equipment that you can make yourself.
The second chapter of this book reads more like a story, with one mans struggles and experiences with selling his creations on Telegraph Avenue. This comical and often too close to home story can be familiar to anyone that has ever tried to sell their own clothing from a stall.
Chapter three of the book takes us more in depth into the screen printing process, with the author taking a job at a local screen printers. The chapter takes us around as he is being shown the ropes of his new job and the antics that happen along the way.
The book as a whole is very informative and a must have for those creative people that learn visually. John Isacson gives us a lot of useful information whilst entertaining us at the same time.
The book is published by Microcosmpublishing. You can find out more about John Isaaacson by visiting www.unlay.com
