We began by mixing Apple Green Pearl Ex into Caligo Extender (which is colourless).
We found we needed to use quite a lot of Pearl Ex to build up a colour strong enough for a print (twice the quantity in the above photo to achieve the ink in the below photo). However, the colour was lovely and it gave a subtle sheen.
The print had a soft pearlescent sheen (that is almost impossible to photograph!) This would be lovely as a subtle addition to a relief print, perhaps as one layer in a multi-block or reduction linocut to add interest.
For a more intense shine, we sprinkled a little Citrine Pearl Ex on top of a tacky print and waited over night for it to dry. The next day, we gently brushed away the excess powder. This was very successful!
We experimented with mixing Pearl Ex into a coloured ink but the metallic pigment disappeared into the ink and the results were extremely subtle unless a lot of Pearl Ex was added.
Finally, we tested using the Pearl Ex as an ink to hand tint a linocut. Mixing Citrine Pearl Ex with Gum Arabic worked extremely well and created a beautiful golden ink to paint onto our linocut. Mixing the Pearl Ex with water was paler and seemed to smudge a little when dry.
Pearl Ex is available in 54 colours and worked beautifully to enhance our linocuts, particularly when dusting onto a tacky print or painting on with Gum Arabic.
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Describe your printmaking practice
All my work starts with multiple sketches. I'm a fan of using sketchbooks to scribble down ideas, sometimes returning to these years later and reworking them with altered perspectives.
I refer to my sketch throughout the carving and printing process, however, the end result isn't always faithful to the original idea - often a linocut takes an alternative direction along the way. A lot of time is given to preparation, cutting and lightly sanding the lino before transferring the design using tracing paper. I always apply a stain of black drawing ink to the lino surface to help me see the contrasts as I carve.
Carving can take a few hours to a few weeks depending on the size and complexity of the work. I usually have multiple pieces on the go and swap between them, as one piece can often inform another. Carving is far and away my favourite part of the process. I find it meditative.
linocut carving in progress, stained grey hessian backed Lino.
How and where did you learn to print?
My first introduction to printmaking was at secondary school, when I made a small monoprint portrait - and then I was reintroduced as an HND student in art school. I attended a taster session in linocut and that was it, I was smitten. From HND I went on to study a BA (Hons) in Illustration where my main focus continued to be printmaking, eventually graduating with a first class degree.
'Yggdrasil' linocut
Why printmaking?
From the moment I made my first linocut at 18 years old, I was hooked. I love the bold graphic quality of line, the texture and tone that can be achieved with carving tools and the infinite possibilities to create imagery that printmaking provides. The only limits are your imagination. The look and feel of wood engraving and linocut particularly appeal as it taps into a long held love of illustrated literature - the folk and fairytale books of my childhood.
Compact and bijou studio space.
Where do you work?
I have worked as an art teacher in further education and as an art therapist working with people who are recovering from stroke and brain injury, but after a spate of poor mental and physical health I decided to return to printmaking in 2018, working full time from my garden studio, built by my husband, Rob, (possibly the best gift ever!)
'Wee Beastie' monoprint made using Caligo Safewash Inks and household recycling.
'Night Watchman' Linocut
As daylight creeps beneath the sward
and good folk drift to bed -
The Owl spies all Night Things abroad,
She'll keep her babies fed.
Describe a typical day
I aim to get all my admin completed first thing in the morning, which includes packaging orders and a short walk to the post office. The rest of the day is given over to creativity, be that sketching, carving or printing. It is incredibly important to me to have time each day to do the creative stuff because the inevitable admin that goes alongside running a small business can feel like a drag! I work full-time in the studio and often through the weekend, however, it's what I love to do and doesn't feel like 'work'.
How long have you been printmaking
It's scary to admit this, but I have been printmaking for 32 years in total. As a full time occupation, for 6 years.
'Two Curious Souls' linocut bolster cushion Caligo Safewash Inks on natural linen.
What inspires you?
My main inspiration is the flora and fauna and landscape that surrounds me. I am fortunate to live in a beautiful part of the world, with Savernake Forest on my doorstep. I am also an avid reader and collector of books, I find this all weaves its way into my work.
'Mischief and Mayhem' linocut.
'Flight Pattern' monoprint Caligo Safewash Inks and household recycling.
What is your favourite printmaking product
My favourite product, hands down, is battleship grey hessian backed lino. I buy it by the roll so that I can make larger scale pieces, which I really enjoy. I also love Cranfield Colours Caligo Safewash and traditional relief inks. I love the versatility of them and that they can be used for both paper and fabric prints, with a few adjustments to application technique.
'Quist Calls' linocut cushion made using Caligo Safewash Inks on natural linen.
'Foxes and Ferns' lampshade.
What have you made that you are most proud of
Over the past couple of years I have started making more pieces for interiors and soft furnishings. I recently printed my own wallpaper by hand, which was both challenging and enjoyable. I have also turned my hand to upholstery, re-covering a traditional fireside chair in my own hand printed linen. Last year, I was thrilled to be asked by Green Howard's Museum to create some commemorative pieces to be displayed in their Normanby Room alongside their beautiful collection of 'Mousy Thompson' mouseman furniture - a real honour!
'Wild One' monoprint made using Caligo Safewash Inks and household recycling.
'Hare in Asters'
Where can we see your work
My work is available from my etsy shop ThePrintmakingBee (https://theprintmakingbee.etsy.com)
Selected pieces are available from Fisherton Mill Gallery, Salisbury.
Folde Dorset, Shaftesbury
The Green Howard's Museum, Richmond, N. Yorkshire
'Above the Vale' multi 3 block linocut using Caligo Safewash Inks.
What can we expect from you next
You can expect more adventures in linocut wallpapers, soft furnishings and lampshades. I'm also currently making a series of monoprints and linocut pieces featuring some of Wiltshire's famous chalk horses, megaliths and crop circles for a potential exhibition this year. I will also be taking part in Thought Press Project (a charitable print exhibition and sale) for the fourth year running.
'Flock' lampshade.
Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives
My advice would be: do not be afraid to try new techniques and to push your creative boundaries (even if it is only a wee bit) - you never know where it might lead. There is no right or wrong in art, so above all, have fun with it.
Follow Rebecca on socials here:
I am on Instagram: bperdue.printmaker
and Facebook: @rebeccaperdueartist
Selection of linocut lampshades recently exhibited at Fisherton Mill Gallery.
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Describe your printmaking process.
I screen print all of my fabric by hand, in a process which remains relatively small scale. I use an A3 screen to repeat my patterns horizontally and vertically across the cloth, producing individual lengths rather than large runs to reduce waste. I print continually and all registration is done by eye, so my fabrics hold the inherent quirks and irregularities of a handmade product I’ve long admired in the work of other printers like Peggy Angus, Jennifer Packer and Christian Smith. To date I have worked solely in single colour, which I embrace as a way of having to distil a design into its simplest, most effective form.
How and where did you learn to print?
The extent of my formal screen printing tuition dates back to my days in high school, where we touched on the process when I was around 14 and I later printed onto silk for a costume project. Printmaking was absent from my foundation year at Central St Martins, so it wasn’t until after my time there that I began dabbling with print once again alongside fine art practice. I was making sculptural and collage work inspired by ruined buildings at the time, so I returned to screen printing to reproduce historic patterns from fragments of wallpaper I salvaged from decaying interiors. Since then I’ve continued to develop my practice and hone my skills by teaching myself, and have thankfully moved on a little from my early days of printing with paper stencils!
Why printmaking?
My journey into printmaking has been more an evolution than an intentional path, but I think the directness and immediacy of printing appeals to me. The moment of lifting the screen to reveal the image below is always a thrill, if not without the familiar tinge of apprehension. I have long enjoyed working with textiles in various ways so branching into this field of design has been a way of combining my love of architecture and interiors, giving me the opportunity to apply my work to buildings in a way which feels intended and meaningful. As far as different types of printmaking go, I think I have gravitated towards screen as you are never working with the image in reverse, and my brain struggles to invert things!
How do you transfer your designs to your screens for printing?
I most frequently expose my screens photographically, but also sometimes use the drawing fluid & screen block method to put my designs onto them by hand.
Where do you work?
I recently set up a new studio at my home in Lanarkshire, southern Scotland. It’s the biggest room in the house, well lit and with the best view across the garden. My desk is stationed looking down to the burn which runs through the village to meet the Clyde further north, so I can watch the wildlife and seasons shifting as I work.
Describe a typical day in your studio.
I have been out of the studio for most of the past year while studying on the Building Arts Programme – a craft skills course run by the King’s Foundation and QEST – so you find me just getting back into the groove of making my own work again. While on the programme I was lucky to spend time on placement with different designers and craftspeople around the UK, among them Timorous Beasties in Glasgow and Patternmakers in Sussex, which gave me lots of ideas for setting up my new workspace. As I get stuck into projects for the new year, my days will be pretty varied between designing, printing and sewing. I make most of the curtains for my projects myself, so my print table doubles as a sewing bench where I hand stitch my curtains and run up my cushions too. Seeing the entire making process through from start to finish means I am always thinking ahead to facilitate the next task – cutting lengths of fabric ready for printing, mixing batches of ink, coating screens to expose my next designs and preparing curtain linings for sewing in at a later date.
How long have you been printmaking?
I printed my first pair of curtains in 2018, and have got through a few hundred metres since then!
What inspires you?
My biggest inspiration, for as long as I can remember, has been buildings. From visiting castles and stately homes as a child to exploring ruins and abandoned houses through my adolescence, I have always been drawn to old buildings and the stories they have to tell. As I’ve grown older this fascination has developed into a wider appreciation of architecture – old and new, modest and grand alike – and I am ever preoccupied by the intangible atmosphere of the spaces we inhabit. My work gives me chance to explore this notion, whether distilling the essence of a place into a motif for curtains or composing a group of buildings for a cushion design, I hope everything I make can speak of its inspiration and feel in harmony with its surroundings.
What have you made that you are most proud of?
Of all the patterns I have produced to date, my favourite is probably the one I made for Fairburn Tower in the Scottish Highlands last year. Working with this building was such a thrill – I had first visited the tower as a roofless and floorless ruin, so being able to create a textile to furnish its restored interior was really exciting and rewarding. My pattern illustrated the old myth of the Fairburn Calf; a prophecy made by mysterious psychic the Brahan Seer in the seventeenth century. His vision foretold the ruin of the tower, declaring that a cow would give birth in its uppermost chamber, in an unlikely event which is said to have come true in the 1800s. Fittingly my fabric was destined for this very room, so following the route of the cow’s fabled ascent to hang the finished curtains at the top of the tower was an unforgettable full-circle moment.
Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?
You can see examples of past projects on my website, and also on my Instagram. At the moment I sell direct to my customers, so it’s a case of getting in touch to discuss commissions. I have made a lot of work for buildings preservation charity The Landmark Trust over the past few years, for whose properties I create new designs and also reproduce old patterns from their archives. I'm hoping to be running some print-based activities at one or two of their free public open weekends this year, still in the planning but keep an eye on the Upcoming Events page on their website for further details to be updated soon.
What will we be seeing from you next?
In 2024 I’ll be accepting more bespoke commissions for curtains and cushions, and I’m also planning to develop a small collection of patterns which will be available for general sale for the first time. Besides these projects I’m also currently working on ideas for the next Landmark Trust property, Calverley Old Hall in West Yorkshire. Here I will be reprinting a historic design based on the Calverley family crest, but also hope to introduce a new pattern inspired by the remarkable Tudor wall paintings rediscovered here behind later plasterwork a couple of years ago.
To see more from Duncan and his exciting projects follow him on Instagram or check out his website.
]]>All our linocut tools can be found here.
We have a blog post on which tools make which marks here.
Changeable Blade Tool Sets
These are particularly useful when starting out, carving softer blocks, or starting with a lower budget. These tool sets have one handle and five interchangeable blades in an assortment of U tools, V tools and straight blades: a great starting point to be able to carve a good variety of marks. They are best suited to softer blocks like Softcut or soft stamp carving blocks like Mastercut or Speedy Carve. These types of tools aren't usually suitable for sharpening.
Lino Cutter with 5 Blades (above, left) - a great budget option, particularly good for soft blocks (there's also a Lino Cutter and Baren Tool with an additional baren attachment for the handle).
Speedball #1 Lino Cutter Assortment (above, centre) - handy lino tool where 5 blades are stored in the handle.
Abig Wooden Handled Lino Cutting Set (above, right) - 5 blades, with a storage box and the option of purchasing replacement blades.
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Tool Sets
We love the Japanese Tool Set (above) in the Handprinted Studio and use it for all our linocut and woodcut workshops. It's a great quality set for a really good price - a good upgrade if moving on from a changeable blade tool, especially if you're changing blade a lot.
It has two U tools, a V tool, a Hangito (knife used in Japanese woodblock printing but also useful for precision linocutting) and a straight knife (this can be used like a Kento knife for registration marks in Japanese woodblock printing). The straight handles feel comfortable in the hand and can even be cut down if you like a shorter handle (this can be handy using the Hangito for Japanese woodcut).
Powergrip Tools (above) come in a set of five or a set of seven. These can be used for wood or lino but are particularly good for woodcut due to the inclusion of Hangito and Aisuki knives (read on for more explanation on these).
Flexcut Tool Sets (above) come in Mini or Micro for really fine detail. They're great for wood and lino and have a round handle that sits comfortably in the hand. These tools are also available individually.
This Pfeil Tool Set (above) is a great way to build a collection of high quality tools that cover a range of shapes and sizes. Their mushroom handles are a comfortable shape to hold. Pfeil Tools are available individually too - there are lots to choose from. We have a video to help you decipher the sizes and shapes here.
Our Japanese Woodblock Cutting Tool Set (above) is luxurious and brilliant quality, containing seven tools including Aisuki and Hangito Knives. These tools are also available individually.
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Individual and Specialist Tools
As well as in sets, there are lots of tools that can be bought individually. This way, you can build a collection that's perfect for your printmaking practice, adding to it as your practice progresses.
Flexcut (mini and micro) and Pfeil Tools (above, left to right) are available in a range of shapes and sizes - we have a video on how to decipher the code names for each tool.
Japanese Tools (above) are a fantastic quality addition to your toolkit. There are three widths of V gouge, three widths of U gouge (above, right).
Large Japanese Woodcut Tools are available as a Flat Chisel or a Shallow Gouge (above, left) and are fantastic for large scale woodcut or linocut work. The wide, flat or shallow blades allow for speedy and smooth clearing.
Hangito Knives (above) are held as shown in the above image and are available in left and right handed versions. They're used particularly for Japanese woodblock printing with an angled chisel designed for cutting key blocks in wood.
An Aisuki (above) is a curved chisel for clearing and smoothing areas that you do not wish to pick up ink.
Kento Knives (above) are used for cutting in registration marks in Japanese woodblock printing.
Our Very Fine Japanese V Gouge is a 0.5mm V tool and our Gokubosomaru (above) is a 0.5mm U tool - perfect for tiny detail.
Our Dot tool (with wooden handle or metal handle) (above) is a chisel designed specifically for carving dot work on lino, wood, metal and plastics.
Linocut is an exciting and dynamic printmaking process, whether you're just starting out or developing your practice, we hope we can help you choose the tools right for you. All our cutting tools can be found here.
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Having obtained a First-class degree in textiles, I went on to qualify as a tutor, taught in Further & Higher education for several years and now teach regularly from my studio and various other venues.
I have exhibited at Jagged Art Gallery, London, Found Gallery, Wales, New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth, and was commissioned by Glyndebourne Opera to create a collection exclusively for them.
I am fortunate to be a member of the Hampshire & Berkshire Guild of Craftsmen with whom I also exhibit.
I continue to develop my approach to textiles through exploration and experimentation with textile processes.
Describe your dyeing process.
I use a lot of Shibori techniques in my dyeing process. This is a form of resist dyeing using a range of folding, stitching and binding techniques to create areas that will resist the dye, leaving diverse and beautiful shapes, textures and patterns within the cloth. The key is the tightness of the bindings.
I start with plain white fabric and prepare it for dyeing by folding and clamping, stitching or various forms of binding. This can be both a relatively quick process or something slow and time consuming.
Once I have decided on my colour scheme and design ideas, I start sampling and colour mixing to produce small scale pieces. I use Procion MX dyes, and occasionally Indigo, recording my recipes, writing notes and attaching samples. This is fundamental as I will then be able to review, push the process further or replicate my pieces.
Despite the sampling and recording process, there is always an element of serendipity and each piece is unique. The fabric is dyed using the immersion dye process and left in the vats for at least 4 hours. The dyes are fixed into the fabric using soda ash and the addition of salt allows the fibres to relax and the dye to penetrate the fabric more effectively.
Although the unbinding and unfolding is exciting, I always wait until the fabric is washed, dried and ironed before assessing the results.
I also use thickened dyes to print with. Utilising a silk screen to overprint and create rich layers of texture and pattern.
How and where did you learn to work with fabric and dye?
I returned to university as a mature student and graduated with a first class degree in Fashion and Textiles. I learnt many things, the most important of which was finding my own creative voice and exploring my potential and that of the fabrics I was experimenting with. It was incredibly freeing for me, but we didn’t go into great detail on the technical side of dyeing and printing. This came later when I attended independent courses and workshops, building on what I subsequently learnt back in the studio with independent research and development. I am always striving to bend the processes I know to what I am trying to achieve through experimentation.
Why textiles and dyeing?
I grew up surrounded by an appreciation for beautiful fabric. My grandmother was a brilliant seamstress, making all her own clothes, always so elegant. She collected fabrics from all her travels and would return with beautiful silks or fine wools and tweeds. Her first instinct was always to reach out to touch any textile. Something I still do too.
During my time at University I met a fantastic tutor, who became a real mentor to me and was instrumental in changing the direction of my life to textiles.
The discovery of dyeing came later through independent study and I loved the transformation of whole cloth and the alchemy and serendipity that can occur within the process.
Where do you work?
I am lucky enough to have a studio at Making Space in Hampshire. Having my own studio has been transformative to my practice, together with the support and encouragement I receive from the wonderful people at Making Space.
Describe a typical day in your studio.
I am better in the mornings so generally get to the studio at 8.30. I try and be disciplined with this as it creates an environment of intent.
I catch up on emails, then look at my plan for the day. I work better with structure. The week tends to be a mix of admin, marketing, research, product creation and creative development. Although it is the thing I want to do the most, I find the creative development the hardest to settle down to if I don’t really have a plan of what I want to do. I will nibble round the edges, doing easy, accessible tasks, usually unrelated to the thing I need to do. Anything to avoid making that start. Once I get myself in the flow though, it is good. There is often a battle going on in my head between the inner critic who says it is all rubbish and the artist who knows that failed experiments are a vital vehicle for learning and developing work.
How long have you been using dye techniques?
About 12 years. When I was studying for my degree as a mature student, I dabbled with dyes, but predominantly focused on screen-printing using inks rather than dyes. It was after I finished my degree that I really developed my interest and knowledge in various dyeing processes.
What inspires you?
The landscape provides a constant and enduring inspiration to which I return time and again. Having travelled extensively over the years, I enjoy drawing on the cultures, patterns, textures and colours of these remarkable places. Joy and inspiration can also be found in old objects and the concept of the traces that remain from previous and continuous use.
I addition to this, I love visiting galleries and museums and am constantly inspired by a great range of artists and crafts people from different periods and disciplines.
What is your favourite dye product?
Procion dyes are my ‘go to’ dye product. They are easy to use, give good colour fastness, come in both warm and cold primaries from which I can mix a limitless range of exciting colours and can be mixed with manutex to make thickened dye to use for all sorts of printing purposes.
What have you made that you are most proud of?
I was incredibly proud of my final degree collection. It felt like a real benchmark for me in my artistic evolution. Since then I have carried on learning, growing and developing. Each new piece I create has significance and of which I am both proud and critical, as we never stop wishing to grow artistically. Having said that, I am proud of the colours, design and quality of my scarves and most recently, of my recent explorations into art textile pieces. These are very organic, dyed on cotton organdie, using earthy and monochromatic colours and layers of process to create surface texture, inspired by a trip to Scotland.
Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?
I mostly sell direct, but have also exhibited at New Ashgate gallery, had work with Herbert Hedley and been commissioned to design a collection for Glyndebourne Opera. I am a member of Hampshire and Berkshire Guild of Craftsmen and exhibit at their yearly selling exhibitions, along with Hampshire Open studios and selling events at Making Space. My work can be seen on my website and on my Instagram page.
What will we be seeing from you next?
Primarily, I plan to carry on developing my textile art pieces for gallery and exhibition. I have many avenues and ideas to pursue. In addition to this I will be creating new scarves and accessories.
Do you have any advice for other creatives?
Don’t give up! Remember that creative practice is an evolving process and each stage is valid and important. You will not always feel like you are moving forwards, but you are always learning and accruing information, skills, knowledge and ideas at every stage. It is a slow process. Allow yourself occasionally to stop and reflect back, you will see how far you have actually come.
When we are stuck, a change of perspective can often help. Look at your work a different way, change your view, turn it upside down, put it on the wall. Sometimes even that isn’t enough and we just need to walk away for a bit, make a cup of tea or go for a walk You will come back to it with a fresh perspective.
Finding communities of other artists and craftspeople is also hugely helpful. It can ease the isolation we often feel by sharing with others and realising you are not alone, other people share the same difficulties and joys in creative practice. It is also great to reflect ideas and thoughts off each other. Someone else’s perspective can be immensely helpful.
Kathryn will be joining us at the Handprinted studio again this year for a few workshops:
Six weeks of textile screen printing with procion dyes - Spring 2024
Introduction to Shibori -28th May 2024
Take a look at more of Kathryn's work on her Website or Instagram
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Describe your printmaking process.
Screen printing on paper is my main focus; it suits me as I tend to design using a limited palette of 2 or 3 colours and I love the dense, powdery finish of the inks. Mixing colours is a big part of the process for me - I spent weeks perfecting my ideal cornflower blue! I’m also developing my lino printing practice, using an etching press.
When starting a new pattern or print, I'll roughly map out the composition in pencil. Once finalised, I'll draw each colour layer on separate sheets of paper in black Indian ink or a brush pen, using the lightbox. This way, I can easily scan in each element and vectorise them in Adobe Illustrator, making colour separation and production prep really easy. I think I'm more of a designer than an artist in this way, as I'm always thinking about the production method ahead, whether it's screen print, letterpress or offset litho. I prefer not to actually draw digitally, as I like to retain the hand-drawn imperfections, but will play around with colour palettes within Illustrator. I get my screens exposed by Handprinted, which is so handy as I don't have space for an exposure unit in my studio at the moment.
How and where did you learn to print?
I’ve taken classes in relief and screen printing, both at uni and independent studios, but mainly it’s been self-taught. A fair bit of trial and error (and a helping hand from Handprinted’s YouTube channel) seems to be the best way to learn.
Why printmaking?
I’m obsessed by all things 20th century print; I have a particular passion for interwar modernism and Art Deco. The traditional print methods - lithography, woodcut, screen print - used by designers a hundred years ago create the most distinctive, spirited results that I think has been lost in the digital age.
Where do you work?
I rent a studio in an old Victorian workshop with big blue doors in Sheffield.
Describe a typical day in your studio.
I live with chronic pain, so can never spend nearly as long at the studio as I’d like. But it usually involves tea, music and podcasts, whilst printing or drawing a new idea with the lightbox. If I’m screen printing, my partner, who is also an artist, often comes to help me out and do the washing up (thanks Ben).
How long have you been printmaking?
I’ve dabbled over the years, but have only been printmaking consistently for the last 3 years. Now that I’m hooked on printmaking, I wish I’d studied it at university 15 years ago. It’s not until you leave university that you realise how invaluable it is to have access to those facilities and brilliant tutors at your fingertips.
What inspires you?
After doing an MA in Design History and researching 1930s furnishing fabrics, I fell in love with interwar modernism in all its forms - fabrics, wallpapers, book covers, interiors, graphics. I love to trawl online museum archives and find hidden gems. I also write about 20th century designers in a Design History blog; sometimes I miss the academic research aspect of my MA, so it's a way to keep my hand in.
I love to use colours that are simultaneously vibrant and a little muted. Over the last couple of years I seem to have developed a palette that I return to. One combination I can't resist is vibrant tomato orange and dusty cornflower blue. I'd like to do more overprinting - there's something extremely satisfying about seeing a third colour emerge when two colours are overprinted.
What is your favourite printmaking product?
Not strictly a printmaking product, but I use a lightbox all the time. I use it to draw different layers of an illustration or pattern and see how they will look together; it also makes colour separations much easier.
What have you made that you are most proud of?
I've screen printed a series of Alphabet prints, that I'm really pleased with. It’s a slow-paced ongoing project - so far I’ve done 8 letters. Will I get to all 26? We’ll see…
Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?
Instagram is the best place to follow my work. You can buy my products via my website and in some lovely shops around the UK - see my stockists here. I have also designed a range of letterpress cards and matchboxes for Archivist gallery, which you can buy here.
What will we be seeing from you next?
I’m working on a series of linocut mini prints that express more personal themes; I’m still relatively new to relief printing so it’s partly an exploration to get more familiar with the process.
Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?
Don’t worry about feeling like an imposter - everyone has to start at the beginning. Notice what lights you up and stay close to it.
Check out more of Ariana’s work and follow her on socials below
]]>Although there are no rules about what paper should be used for each printmaking technique, below we have outlined some of the desirable characteristics that may help you choose what might be right for you and your project. We have suggested a few of our favourite papers too!
All of our papers can be found here.
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Prints from our Six Weeks of Screen Printing Workshops
Screen Printing
- Smooth paper is easier to use for screen printing, especially for beginners. Those with a little more experience might like to use something a little textured.
- Thicker paper is ideal as it's unlikely to curl when wet ink is applied. 200 - 300gsm can work really well.
- Dry paper is usually used for screen printing.
Our favourites:
- Snowdon 300gsm
- Somerset 300gsm
- Rosaspina 285gsm
If screen printing using paper stencils, we recommend using standard 80gsm copy printer paper to make the stencils. This is thick enough to make a strong stencil, but not so thick as to not sit flat on the screen. Thicker stencils can cause the edges of the design to print poorly, due to the screen being held too far away from the printing surface.
In the Handprinted Studio, we love to use magazine pages to mask off areas of an exposed screen that are not being printed. It's shininess means it's a little water (and ink) resistant - we love to repurpose in our studio!
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Relief Printing
(Linocut, woodblock printing etc.)
- Thinner papers are easier for hand-burnishing (with a baren or spoon) or it can be difficult to get a solid print. Between 30 – 150gsm is ideal.
- Thicker papers can be used in a press if you choose, especially if printing with an etching press.
- Dry paper is usually used for relief printing.
- Smooth papers can give a more even print. Thinner papers with texture like Khadi papers can give interesting textures to the final print.
Our favourites:
- Canaletto 160gsm
- Kent 190gsm - really good for starting out or proofing
- Shoji 48gsm
- Hosho
- Khadi - various weights and colours
- Somerset 250gsm
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Intaglio Printing
(Drypoint, collagraph, etching etc.)
- Damp paper is usually used. The paper needs to hold together when soaked and not fall apart. Intaglio printmaking usually uses a press.
- Thicker papers are ideal as you’ll get lovely plate marks and the paper won’t curl as much when wet.
Our favourites:
- Somerset 250sgm or 300gsm
- Snowdon 300gsm
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Japanese Woodblock
- Washi papers are traditionally used but Western papers (like Fabriano Accademia) can work well for beginners
- Damp paper is used. The paper must remain the same level of dampness throughout the printing process for the print layers to register properly (a damp pack is recommended for this).
Our favourites:
- Fabriano Accademia 200gsm
- Hosho
- Awagami papers - various weights and colours
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Monotype/ Monoprinting
- The paper you use can vary a lot depending on the specific techniques used.
- Thin papers work best for hand printing, although thicker papers can be used in a press with great success.
- Dry or damp paper can be used.
Our favourites:
- Five Seasons 110gsm (also great for lithography)
- Somerset 250gsm or 300gsm - beautiful through a press
- Logan Deli Paper - great for Gelli printing
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Khadi Paper - Lokta
Other things to consider
- Colour – are your inks translucent or opaque? The colour of the paper will show through translucent inks. We love using coloured papers for our prints. Khadi papers come in a stunning range of shades, as do Awagami papers if you're looking for something more subtle. Black paper can be a bold choice when printing with opaque inks. We love using it with metallic inks!
- Edges - would you like a deckled edge or a straight cut edge? You can deckle or cut your own edges to suit the print. Some handmade papers come with beautifully soft edges, such as Khadi, Awagami and rag paper.
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Other papers for the printmaking studio
- Newsprint - extremely useful for wiping intaglio plates, proofing, registration sheets and many other applications around the printmaking studio.
- Tracing paper - useful for transferring your artwork to a sheet of lino. Polydraw is a waterproof tracing paper, particularly useful for Japanese Woodblock Printing.
- Carbon paper (blue or red) - useful for transferring your artwork to a sheet of lino. Red carbon paper is especially useful as it shows up on other printmaking blocks such as vinyl and on some surfaces is waterproof (more about carbon papers on our blog here).
]]>Ian now devotes himself to producing paintings and prints in his studio at home. Much of his work is inspired by the local environment, particularly the nearby village of Staithes.
Describe your printmaking process.
My printmaking process is relief printmaking, either in wood or linoleum, carved or etched. It is the most direct translation or transcription of my drawing technique which is both bold and graphic.
'Cage Fighters'
My etching lino technique is inspired by Michael Rothenstein’s own recipe which included wallpaper paste and caustic soda but I have replaced these with oven cleaner - my chosen example is Ovenmate - and wax resist. This produces more painterly marks rather than angular gouge marks.
'Big Dog'
Here is a few recent prints that I have used layering as opposed to the reduction technique or the key block. They can sometimes produce random colours but often you get happy accidents and the layering creates depth and interesting elements that my limited imagination could not have considered.
'Hummer'
How and where did you learn to print?
I trained as a painter but when I left college I couldn’t afford a studio so I started to work with relief print on a kitchen table in my bedsit. I am mainly self-taught but I attended a workshop by Michael Rothenstein, which was very influential. I have been following his approach of experimental printmaking over four decades. My bible is Michael Rothenstein’s book on “Relief Print”
Why printmaking?
Coming from a working-class family in the North East I firmly believe in affordable art.
Where do you work?
I work in a large shed on the North Yorkshire Moors, close to my mill house where I house my large Colombian press. One end of the shed is dedicated to painting and the other to printmaking.
Describe a typical day in your studio.
It is a difficult balance between painting and printmaking but it depends how I feel and what deadlines I have to meet. When I have a painting commission then I paint and I will print when I have to print an edition for a deadline which is my main form of income as my prints seem to be preferred to my paintings, especially by the Royal Academy.
Woodblocks and objects in the studio found
How long have you been printmaking?
Since 1983 when I finished my MA at Goldsmiths College.
'Hummer' Etched lino and woodblock
What inspires you?
My family history via old photographs and surroundings on the North Yorkshire Moors and the Yorkshire coast. Increasingly I am drawn to animals, birds and fish that I encounter on my fishing trips and in my dog walks and exploration of the moors and woods.
'High and Dry'
What is your favourite printmaking product?
Japanese paper is perfect for woodblock and lino printing in my layering technique. A big piece of paper is unfortunately very expensive, so you have to live with mistakes.
'Stonegate Owl' woodblock and etched linoleum
What have you made that you are most proud of?
I think ‘Stonegate Owl’, which was voted the people’s choice in the National Open Print exhibition which appeals to my Egalitarian side and not to mention my ego. I have had a very rewarding collaboration with Ade Adesina which I provided the drawing, and he did the carving and the engraving. ‘ Whitby translated’, which won the Wells Open Contemporary Art prize.
'Whitby Translated' by Ade Adesina and Ian Burke
Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?
I run Staithes gallery with my wife in the Northeast by the coast. But I also show in Aldeburgh Contemporary Arts in Suffolk , Zillah Bell Gallery in Yorkshire, Pineapple Gallery in Bishop Auckland and I also show at the Royal Academy Summer Show when I get in. Recently I have also featured in the Wakefield Print Fair at the Hepworth Gallery and Printfest in Ulverston, Cumbria.
What will we be seeing from you next?
I have been playing with repeat patterns with a simple stamp set on a big sheet of lino which looks like a potential textile print. I plan to print it on a very expensive Japanese paper as block print with lots of layers behind.
'Kings or Clowns?' an example of Ian's layering technique.
Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?
Do not get discouraged if you have a knock back it’s part of the game. Follow your own preferences rather than what’s fashionable or pushes the correct conceptual buttons. If you don’t enjoy it stop doing it, you only have one life.
Join Ian in the Handprinted studio for a two day experimental relief printmaking workshop this year!
To see more from Ian, follow him on Instagram or check out his website.
]]>Acid-free – refers to papers that are made with an alkaline pulp, usually with calcium carbonate added. Acids contribute to the deterioration of paper and therefore of prints.
Aisuki – a rounded, bevelled chisel tool used in Japanese Woodblock Printing, often used for clearing areas of wood. You can find Aisukis here.
A la poupée – an intaglio printmaking technique in which different coloured inks are applied to a plate with a wad of fabric.
Aquatint – an etching technique in which tones are achieved. Usually, a metal plate is given an acid-resistant coating before being placed in an acid bath. The acid bites into the plate, producing a surface that can hold ink for printing. Tonal variations are achieved by varying the length of time in the acid bath.
Artist’s Proof (AP) – Artist’s proof prints are made by the artist to check the print quality and design before printing an edition. Artist’s Proof prints usually shouldn’t exceed 10% of the overall number in the edition. They are usually identical to the edition but may sometimes include slightly flawed prints omitted from the edition. See our blog post on editioning prints for more information.
Baren – a disk-shaped printmaking tool used to hand burnish a print by rubbing it over the surface of the paper when it is in contact with the inked-up block. Find barens here.
Bed – refers to the flat surface of a printing press on which the block or plate is laid.
Bench hook – a tool that hooks onto a table with a stop to hold a block in place whilst it is being carved. Bench hooks can be found here.
Binder – (see medium) a clear substance to which pigment is added to create printmaking inks.
Bite – the action of an acid on a metal plate.
Blanket – used as cushions in printmaking presses between the roller and the paper.
Bleed – where ink appears outside the designed areas of a print. Digitally, bleed can also refer to the extension of the design beyond the cut or crop line to ensure the image runs to the edge of the print.
Blind emboss – an embossed impression in the paper, often made from a block without ink.
Block – the material into which a design is carved for relief printmaking, e.g. lino, ply etc.
Bon a tirer (BAT) – The first perfect print to come from the printing surface. This is usually made when the artist themselves is not printing the edition: a B.A.T print is used to show the print from which the whole edition should be matched. There is usually only one of these. See our blog post on editioning prints for more information.
Brayer – a roller used to apply ink to a printing surface. Rollers can be found here.
Burin – an engraving tool with a metal shaft and usually a sharp V gouge point.
Burr – in drypoint, the ridge of metal (or plastic) thrown up on either side of the needle as it scratches into the plate. In mezzotint, the surface created by the action of the rocker.
Carborundum – silicon carbide – a fine powder used in intaglio printmaking. When applied to a plate, carborundum creates a rough, even surface that holds a lot of ink. Carborundum can also be used for levelling the surface of a lithography stone. Fine carborundum here.
Chine Collé – a process in which ink is transferred onto a thin sheet of paper (such as archival tissue paper) whilst simultaneously sticking the thin sheet to a stronger, thicker sheet of paper. Traditionally used to enable fine, delicate prints, now more often used to add areas of coloured paper to a single colour print. See more here.
Chop – a small mark printed in the margins of a print to show the maker. Traditionally, a chop shows the printer or publisher but is now sometimes used to show the artist.
CMYK – cyan, magenta, yellow and black. This colour system is used in halftone screen printing, where each colour is created as its own halftone exposed screen and printed separately, giving the overall look of a full-colour print.
Collagraph – a print made from a plate that has been layered with various natural and found materials to a base and then usually varnished. These are often printed using the intaglio method but can also be printed in relief. See our collagraph blog post here.
Cutting tool – a tool used for carving into a block. These can be V gouges, U gouges, hangito knives etc. Cutting tools can be found here.
Cyanotype – an early form of photography that uses two solutions mixed together to create ‘blueprints’. Read more about making cyanotypes here.
Dabber/dauber – a wad of cloth used to apply ink to a block or plate. Also used to apply grounds to etching plates.
Deckled edge – A rough, irregular edge on a piece of printmaking paper.
DPI – dots per inch – the number of pixels in one inch of an image. 300dpi is usually standard for high-quality printing.
Drypoint – an intaglio printmaking method where an image is scratched onto a plate creating a burr that holds ink. See how to make a drypoint print here.
Durometer – measures hardness, for example, the shore of squeegees. The higher the number, the harder the material.
Edition – a set of identical prints taken from the same matrix or matrices (printing surfaces). Editions can either be limited or open. Limited editions mean that no more of the same prints will be made. Read more about editioning in our blog post here.
Emboss – an impression in the paper, often made from a block without ink.
Emulsion – when mixed with sensitiser, a photo emulsion can be used to coat screens to create exposed images for screen printing. Find emulsion here.
Engraving – a printmaking technique in which lines are carved directly into a plate using a burin.
Etching – an intaglio technique in which a plate is prepared with resistant material before being exposed to an acid that bites into the remaining surface. When charged with ink, the bitten surface retains the ink, allowing the design to be printed. The term ‘etching’ is also used to refer to similar techniques such as ‘drypoint etching’ where no acid is used.
Exposure – in screen printing, where a screen coated with sensitised emulsion is exposed to a light source with a design on a transparency between the screen and the light. The light hardens the emulsion it can reach, leaving the areas of the design soft and washable. This results in a screen with areas of open mesh in the desired design.
Extender – a transparent modifier to add to ink. Adding extender can make the colour more transparent and can loosen the ink.
Giclée – an archival fine art digital printmaking process.
Gouge -A tool used to carve a block for relief printing. Can have a V or a U shaped end.
Halftone – The breakdown of an image into small dots to simulate the look of continuous tones. Greyscale images need to be broken down into halftones in order to be exposed onto screens for screen printing. More about halftones here.
Hand burnish – taking a print by hand or by using a baren instead of a press. Paper is placed over the inked up block and then rubbed over with a hand, baren, wooden spoon or similar to transfer the ink to the paper.
Hangito – a Japanese Woodblock Printing cutting tool that looks like an angled sharp knife with one bevelled edge. Find hangitos here.
Hardground – a substance added to the surface of an etching plate to resist acid. A hardground can be drawn into with a sharp tool to reveal areas of metal to the acid bath.
Honing – sharpening or maintaining a sharp edge on a cutting tool.
Intaglio – a printmaking method using an image that has been incised into a plate. Ink is worked into the recesses of the plate and is usually printed onto dampened paper through an etching press. Drypoints, etchings and collagraphs can all be printed intaglio.
Japanese Woodblock (Mokuhanga) – a type of relief printmaking in which brushes are used to ink up a woodblock with watercolour paint and nori paste. Images are printed onto dampened paper in layers, often registered using kento marks. Learn more about Japanese Woodblock here.
Key block – the key layer in a print that gives the main detail or outline of an image. Usually printed first or last in a multi-layered print.
Kento – Japanese Woodblock method of registration. Kento marks are cut into a block using a kento chisel. The corner of the paper slots into these marks so that the paper rests in the same place for each layer. Shop for kento chisels, kento stickers and kento boards.
Kitchen Lithography – a form of printmaking that uses the same principles as lithography but uses simple household materials such as aluminium foil and cola!
Letterpress – the practice of printing by hand setting (composition) of lead and wood type and printing using a number of different presses. Letterpress printing remained the primary way to print until the second half of the 20th century.
Lightfastness – usually refers to paper and inks. Change caused by exposure to light.
Limited edition – a set of identical prints taken from the same matrix or matrices (printing surfaces). Limited editions mean that no more of the same prints will be made. Read more about editioning here.
Lino – linoleum – a material made of cork dust and linseed oil with a hessian backing. Used to create relief prints when carved. Shop for lino here.
Linocut – a relief print made using a carved piece of lino. Learn to make a linocut on our blog post.
Lithography – a planographic printmaking process in which ink is applied to a grease-treated image on a flat surface. Moisture repels oil-based ink from the blank areas and the greasy areas attract ink.
Matrix – the printmaking surface – plate, block, stone etc. from which the image is taken.
Medium (printing medium) – a clear substance to which paint is added to create printmaking inks.
Mesh – the woven fabric stretched over a frame to make a silkscreen for screen printing.
Mezzotint – a printmaking technique in which a plate is textured with a rocker to create dark tone. The tonal areas are then polished back to a smooth surface that will not hold ink. The plate is printed intaglio.
Moiré - A visual effect that happens when two similar patterns overlap, creating new, wavy, or unwanted stripes - Moiré can occur when halftone images are screen printed onto fabric or the halftone is not set to the correct frequency for the mesh count.
Mokuhanga (Japanese Woodblock) – a type of relief printmaking in which brushes are used to ink up a woodblock with watercolour paint and nori paste. Images are printed onto dampened paper in layers, often registered using kento marks. (Moku = wood and Hanga = printmaking).
Learn more about Japanese Woodblock here.
Mokulito – a form of Japanese printmaking meaning ‘wood lithography’. An image is drawn onto the block using greasy materials.
Monoprint – a print made using any printmaking technique from which only one print can be made. Monoprints can be made using and single or multiple printmaking techniques and usually is made using some form of matrix.
Monotype – like a monoprint, a monotype is a print that is one of a kind. Unlike monoprints, monotypes are not made using a matrix such as a cut block or plate.
Multi-Block – a relief print that is made using multiple blocks that print on top of one another to create a multi-coloured final print.
Noise – the marks left behind on a print from areas of a block that have been carved away and have picked up ink from the roller. Sometimes these marks are left to add character or movement to a print.
Nori – starch paste used in Japanese Woodblock Printing. Can also be used for chine collé printing. Shop for nori.
Offset – transferring ink from one surface to another.
Oil-based – inks that use oil as their vehicle (usually linseed oil). Traditionally these need to be cleaned up with solvents but alternatives can now be used: Zest-it can be used for clean up of oil-based inks. Cranfield also make an oil-based but water-washable ink called Caligo which can be washed up with soap and water.
Opaque – impenetrable by light, opposite of transparent, not see-through. Refers to inks that do not show any colour of the paper, fabric or previous print layers through.
Original print – original prints are prints in the medium the artist originally used e.g. linocuts, collagraphs, lithographs, etchings, screenprints etc. This is not the same as a reproduction which is usually digitally printed.
Overprinting – colours are printed over the top of one another.
Paper fingers – folded pieces of paper or card used to protect paper and blankets from finger marks.
Photo Emulsion – when mixed with sensitiser, a photo emulsion can be used to coat screens to create exposed images for screen printing. Find emulsion here.
Pigment – the coloured particles in an ink.
Planography – a printing process, such as lithography, that prints from a flat surface. The printing and non-printing areas exist n the same plane and rely on chemical properties to hold or repel ink.
Plate – a metal, card or plastic surface used to create an image, usually used when printing intaglio.
Platemark – The embossed mark left on a print made by the edges of the plate when printing through an etching press.
Plate tone – in intaglio printing, the faint tone printed from a plate by the residue of ink left on the plate after wiping.
Process colours – printmaker’s primary colours. Process cyan, magenta and yellow inks can be mixed together to create a wide spectrum of colours. Process colours are often more transparent than other inks and allow for overprinting to create more colours that mix on the surface of a print.
Proof – Artist’s proof prints are made by the artist to check the print quality and design before printing an edition. Artist’s Proof prints usually shouldn’t exceed 10% of the overall number in the edition. They are usually identical to the edition but may sometimes include slightly flawed prints omitted from the edition. See our blog post on editioning prints for more information.
Rainbow roll – When more than one adjacent colour is rolled out onto a plate and mixed in a gradient as the ink is rolled out. See the use of a rainbow roll here.
Reduction – a relief printing method in which the same block is carved into between each layer, leaving a smaller printing surface with each layer. See a reduction linocut here.
Registration – the lining up of print layers or a single print layer onto the substrate.
Registration marks – guides drawn or carved to aid in the proper positioning of matrix and substrate in the printing process.
Relief printing – a printmaking process where the unwanted areas of a block are carved away. The raised areas of the block are charged with ink (usually using a roller) and printed onto a substrate such as paper or fabric. E.g. linocut and woodcut.
Retarder – An ink modifier used to slow down the drying time of ink.
Screen (silkscreen) – Mesh is stretched over a frame to be used for screen printing. A stencil is created on the mesh with paper or by using Photo Emulsion.
Screen film – a transparency on which a design can be digitally printed or hand-drawn, used to expose an image onto a screen for screen printing.
Screenprint – a print made using a screen printing technique.
Screen printing – a printmaking technique that uses a squeegee to force ink through a mesh-stretched screen onto a substrate. Stencils made of paper or exposed onto the mesh using photo emulsion are used to create a design.
Scrim (tarlatan) – rough, loosely woven fabric used in intaglio printing to wipe ink from the plate. Buy scrim here.
Serigraphy – screen printing, referring to a fine art process rather than the commercial process.
Shellac – varnish made from lack resin dissolved in methylated spirits. used to seal collagraph plates.
Shore – hardness, durometer. Used when referring to screen printing squeegees.
Silkscreen – Mesh is stretched over a frame to be used for screen printing. A stencil is created on the mesh with paper or by using Photo Emulsion. Find screens here.
Sizing – a water-resistant coating added to paper.
Snap-off – the distance between a screen and the paper.
Softground – a substance added to the surface of an etching plate to resist acid. A softground can be pressed into with soft tools and objects to create subtle marks and textures before placing in the acid bath.
Solvent – a substance used to dissolve others, often used to clean up oil-based inks.
Spit-bite – an etching technique in which acid is applied to the plate with a brush and water or saliva.
Squeegee – a screen printing tool with a rubber blade fixed to a metal or wooden handle. The blade is used to force ink along the screen and through the mesh. Shop for squeegees.
Stop Out – an acid-resistant substance used in etching to protect an area of metal plate from an acid bath.
Sugarlift – an etching technique in which a sugary solution is painted onto a metal plate. The plate is covered with ground and then washed. The sugar dissolves, exposing areas of the metal which can then be etched in an acid bath.
Sumi – Chinese black ink. Find it here.
Tarlatan (scrim) – rough, loosely woven fabric used in intaglio printing to wipe ink from the plate. Buy scrim here.
Thermofax – a screen made using a carbon photocopy and a thermofax machine, printed with a squeegee in a similar way to screen printing. Get your own thermofaxes here.
Transparent Base – an ink modifier used particularly in screen printing to make ink more transparent.
Trap – the areas of overlap between layers in a print.
Tusche – a greasy drawing medium in the form of a stick or a liquid, used mainly in lithography.
Tympan – a greased plate on a lithographic press
Vinyl – a block that can be carved and printed in a similar way to lino.
Viscosity – the fluidity of an ink.
Viscosity printing – a method of using multiple colours from one plate by using inks of different viscosities.
Water-based – inks that use water as a vehicle. These can be cleaned up with water and tend to dry more quickly than oil-based inks.
Wet-on-dry – printing one colour over the top of another when the first layer has dried.
Wet-on-wet – printing one colour over the top of another whilst the first is still wet.
Whetstone – an abrasive stone used for sharpening tools.
Wiping – in intaglio printmaking where ink is removed from the surface of the plate.
Woodcut – a relief printing process where an image is cut from the plank side of the wood.
Wood Engraving – a printmaking technique in which lines are carved directly into the end grain of a piece of wood.
This glossary is gathered from a few sources including ‘Printmaking: Traditional and Contemporary Techniques’ by Ann D’Arcy Hughes and Hebe Vernon-Morris as well as https://www.annieday.com.au/glossary-printmaking–papermaking-terms
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We hosted some fabulous workshops with some tutors coming back in 2024 to teach again!
Sean Starwars delivered a roller coaster ride of a talk and a fun-filled workshop, allowing us to print tees using his pre-cut woodblocks!
Helen Murgatroyd taught multiblock linocut, showing us how to expertly register and align all our blocks to make the perfect print!
Koshu guided us through the ancient art of chop carving, expertly showing us how to design and carve our own chop blocks.
Robin Mackenzie brought a wealth of wisdom and knowledge when he came to teach wood engraving! Everyone produced amazing work in such a short time. Robin will be back in April 2024!
Kathryn Green delivered a six-week workshop on screen printing with Procion MX Dyes, including the very interesting method of breakdown printing! Kathryn will be back in May 2024!
Sue Brown continued to wow us with her amazing mixed media techniques, with both courses being thoroughly enjoyed by all attendees. Sue will be back in July 2024!
Tricia Johnson taught us life drawing, but with a printmaking twist! Students learnt how to capture shapes and forms using mono screen print and a live model. Tricia will be back in April 2024!
Paul Catherall taught an extensive linocut workshop, inspired by his brutalist architectural prints. Paul will be back in April 2024!
Sarah Campbell adorned our studio with her passionately patterned fabrics. She shared with us her valuable knowledge of making patterns and fabric painting. Sarah will be back in April and September 2024!
Bridget and Shirley took a trip to Frankfurt to visit Creativeworld – the world's largest trade fair for artists’ supplies. They touched base with some of our suppliers including Konrad from ABIG (pictured below). We also met Woodzilla Presses, and now we are a UK supplier for them!
Shirley headed out to Japan in October and visited so many beautiful art shops. She discovered new suppliers, and took a tour around the Awagami Paper Factory!
We followed her progress with envious eyes, but we forgave her when she came back with lots of lovely snacks for us to eat - and new exciting printmaking tools to test, including this Very Fine V gouge, which is now in stock!
This year, we had a total of 20 entries for the 20:20 Print Exchange! Each artist produced a print, 20cm x 20cm in size, and printed 25 in the edition. In return, we all received a box of 20 prints from other participants around the world!
The print exchange is run by Hot Bed Press Studio in Salford. Thought to be one of the biggest print exchanges in the world, this year over 40 studio groups took part!
Our shop in Bognor Regis had a little makeover to the front, thanks to Crucial Projects for the brand refresh! We also had some building work to extend the floor space in the studio upstairs, providing a little more space for more printmaking activities. And now we’re a little greener thanks to the solar panels we had installed on the roof!
Wishing all the best to our customers for 2024!
]]>Pop your feet up, grab yourself a nice festive beverage and get inspired for the new year ahead!
"Stay creative, try lots of different things, keep your eyes and ears open. Keep at it!"
"For anyone starting out as a printmaker I would advise reaching out to those who inspire you. I was helped by many engravers and lino artists who were so generous with their advice and knowledge. Also draw. Go out and draw and take those drawings back to the studio. Photographs are useful too but your own unique, way of mark making will appear when drawing on location. Experiment, make mistakes and enjoy the process."
"Keep experimenting, and try something new, especially if it seems unlikely to succeed."
"Get feedback on your products from friends and family and even people you don’t know, but ultimately do what you love. Stay true to yourself. Printmaking will take you on the most amazing journey."
"Put in the work - nothing about printmaking is easy - its a challenge and there is so much to learn but that's what makes it so much fun! Go on as many courses as you can to see how other artists work and experience different studio set ups. DRAW and draw a lot, doesn't matter if your good or you like the drawings it's important training for your eye, think of it like the run you should be going on or the squats you should do to keep strong."
"Have fun. Don’t worry too much in the early days about developing a style, just put in the hard yards and your style will make itself known and will evolve. Learn from others but don’t worry too much about “the rules” as there really aren’t any."
"Go for it! Explore, experiment and enjoy the process!"
"If you haven’t tried printmaking, give it a go and you might just become addicted. Printmaking has been such a great way for me to learn to be more decisive and embrace the beauty of the unintended, not just in art but life more generally!"
"Just keep showing up."
Nick Morley
"Keep at it. Practice is so important. You can only develop as an artist by regular practice. Make lots of bad work.
Experiment. Make mistakes. This is the best way to discover new ways to do things and to develop strong ideas. Try not to be precious about what you make.
Travel, have fun, play, discover. That sounds like a cheesy tagline for a multinational corporation, doesn’t it? But if you don’t feed your soul how can you make good art? It doesn’t matter what you’re into, delve deeply into it."
"Apply for everything. I know it’s expensive, but entering competitions & open calls is such a good way to get exhibited and to make connections and be inspired. Don’t be afraid to get yourself out there and lastly, support and promote one another’s work!"
"An inspiration wall is a great place to start, and taking part in printmaking courses at an open-access print studio is great for gaining ideas and experience. Taking part in Instagram-based print challenges and fundraisers, such as the Pressing Matters insert, Handprinted Collective and One of Many Postcard from John Pedder, is a good way to meet other printmakers too."
"Show up every day and do something that progresses your creative practice forward. Even if it’s just one task, or only 20 minutes that you can spare. Do it every day, build a habit, and those small steps you take will start to feel like a sprint!
Also, if you have access to printmaking facilities, either at your school, university or local area - please use them! It’s the best way to meet other creatives, bounce ideas around, get some feedback and find the support you need as a creative."
"Enjoy the process of making and creating, rather than putting all your focus on the end result. To start with, keep it simple. Linocut is a very forgiving medium. It sounds odd but I don’t think you have to be very good at drawing. Often the people that come to my lino print workshops that say they can’t draw, create the most successful prints."
"To slightly paraphrase the saxophonist John Coltrane: Start in the middle."
"Some advice I was given early in my art career when I was sometimes struggling and tempted to give up on something was “make it work” or if I am about to start on something “keep it simple”. I have to remind myself often of these and I will pass the same advice on. And one I tell others (and myself) when they’re stuck is just to “do it” or “go for it” or “don’t give up”."
"My advice for anybody who would like to have a go at Printmaking is to just go for it, you’ll surprise yourself."
"Advice I would give to printmakers or others who want to try printmaking, is to experiment a lot, embrace the mistakes, it's about learning and don't be afraid to mix it up, prints don't have to be made using one technique."
"Try to be born to rich parents. And if that doesn’t quite work out then…just make work! Draw, print or paint but don’t wait for an idea to strike. I’ve wasted time waiting to have enough time or space or money to get started but you just have to make things however and whenever you can and the process will reveal what is important and exciting and fascinating to you."
"Try to absorb as diverse a range of influences as possible, as then your work will develop a style entirely of its own."
"My advice would be to plan less and intuit more. We get so stuck planning things out sometimes that we never even get to starting a project! Not to mention the fact that it can really suck the joy out of the process. I have talked about this a lot on my Instagram - it’s so important to remain in love with the process, and planning too meticulously can really dull the joy and discovery of the magical printing process."
"Printmaking is full of possibilities; enjoy the process and keep making - no matter what! Do that thing you are scared to do; that is what you need to get started."
A big thank you to all of the makers that have taken part in our Meet the Maker feature this year! We hope that you have been as inspired by their work as we have.
Here's to 2024 and even more printmaking goodness!
]]>We gathered up the standard resists used for aluminium plate etching - as well as a few wild cards to see how they would resist. We found out that some are not as strong as others, but enjoyed the subtle marks created with this experiment.
This blog is part of a series featuring tips and techniques to get you started with aluminium or zinc plate etching. This post will demonstrate the range of resists you can use to create subtle marks and tones within your etching.
We tested the following resists:
You can use resists with a fresh plate, or use a previously etched plate. Whichever you chose to start with, it’s important to degrease your plate first. Follow the degreasing steps as outlined in this blog. For this process, grounds are not needed when applying resists.
First, we planned how we were going to mark our test plate. We divided the plate into segments, one for each resist we planned on testing, and drew the segments on with a Sharpie Pen.
Then we applied the resists to the plate. Some were applied with a brush, and we selected a range of brushes with strong bristles. We also tried a dry-bristle effect with some of the resists.
We allowed the resists on the plate to fully dry, and then we taped up the back of our plate using plastic parcel tape to protect it from the mordant. We recommend leaving a longer piece on the top and fold it over to make a little handle. This makes it easier to lift the plate out of the copper sulphate solution.
We set up two plastic trays side by side. Wearing goggles and gloves, we poured our copper sulphate solution into one tray, and prepared 2 inches of water into another tray.
Following a test strip that shows the strength of our mordant, we decided to set our stopwatch to 30 seconds. Wearing gloves and goggles, we carefully placed our plate into the copper sulphate solution and started our stopwatch.
When the timer was up, we removed the plate from the mordant bath. We immediately placed the plate into the water bath to remove any remaining copper sulphate solution. We used a feather to lightly remove any copper particles.
Once rinsed, we removed our plate from the water bath. We could see that the exposed areas on the plate looked slightly darker and discoloured.
Next, we cleaned off our resists using Zest-It and a dry rag. Some resists were harder to remove, so we had to use a little white spirit. If you need to use this, remember to ventilate your room. As we cleaned our plate, we could see how the resists had worked.
Next it was time to print our plate and get inky! We used Caligo Safe Wash Etching Inks by Cranfield. We find they are easy to use and clean up quickly with just a bit of soap and water. We squeezed out a small amount and used a palette knife to loosen up the ink.
Using a piece of mountboard, we scraped the ink across the surface of the plate in one direction. We then rotated the plate 90 degrees and pulled ink across the alternative way.
When the plate was thoroughly coated, we then used some scrim to work the ink in circular motions. With this twisting motion, we’re pushing as much ink as we can into all the little etched marks.
Next, we polished the plate with a clean cloth rag first and then some tissue paper. Try to do this part with flat contact, and a flat palm - don't bunch up the material. Be careful not to over-polish - if you polish too much, you might remove too much ink which would result in a pale print.
Our plate is ready to be printed. The plate looks blue as there is ink still in the grain of the metal, and paler where the resists where. We’re using an aluminium plate, which will never get fully clean or provide bright whites.
Using soaked and blotted Snowdon paper, and we took a print using our etching press and blankets.
Now we have a handy reference point for all the types of marks we can make with resists. We can use this print when planning out our future etchings. Click here to see a larger version with annotations.
More Tips
For this project, you will need:
A decade ago, when I first stepped into a print workshop, I met print technician and artist India Ritchie, who taught me various printmaking methods while studying at Arts University Plymouth.
India taught me intaglio, relief, and screen print processes, giving me a well-rounded insight into print. The workshop became a playground of image-making possibilities for me. I fell in love with the tactile nature of print.
After graduating in graphic design, I got lucky and got a job assisting India one day a week. I also attended short courses to immerse myself before I landed in screen print as my primary process. It's important to mention that I taught myself a lot through trial and error and simply getting stuck in and making an inky mess.
Why printmaking?
My journey from graphic designer to printmaker has been a pretty gradual one. I vividly remember when I pulled and revealed my first handmade screen print. It was a transformative experience for me, and from that moment on, I fell hook, line, and sinker for the possibilities of printmaking and decided to pursue my newfound passion, specialising in screen print.
The printmaker's rituals are essential for me, from putting on my well-inked-up apron to learning the nuances of my craft to handling the tools and materials, improvising solutions, being on my feet and feeling the labour of my work ache through my body at the end of the day. The kinaesthetic approach to printmaking ignited something dormant in me ten years ago; it resonated – and from that first time applying ink with my hands and pulling the squeegee across the paper surface, I knew I'd found my thing.
Where do you work?
I run my screen print space from Alma Yard Studios. From there, I make high-quality, affordable print pieces alongside commissions and continued experimentation with paper and textile processes, including woodwork and doll-making.
Colossal is a social project I run; see what I get up to in the pictures below. It's an innovative mobile print workshop aiming to innovate and deliver printmaking experiences, reaching a wider audience and involving communities. Through this initiative, I aim to bring print to the people, harnessing the power of printmaking to engage and ignite creativity in others.
Describe a typical day in your studio.
My natural rhythm for things starts at around 4pm. I do some faffing around before that, tying up loose ends, phone calls, emails, writing, planning, etc. I focus on my work and get going when the flow kicks in.
How long have you been printmaking?
I'd say appropriately since 2016, when I started to commit myself to print, started exhibition and selling work and moved away from Graphic Design.
What inspires you?
Fashion imagery, especially from the 1960s. I loved the bold graphic shapes created for the advertising at that time. I'm interested in finding images and giving them a new home and context in this day and age.
What is your favourite printmaking product?
Jacquard Solar Gold ink is dreamy ink, and I love the quality when it meets the paper surface I print on. I also love Somerset Satin. It's got such a smooth surface, and the deckled edges give it an extra unique feel.
What have you made that you are most proud of?
I screen-printed a human-sized puppet for my master's degree final project. Making a screen print my 5ft 7’’ size was an epic task. It took lots of physical labour and planning. My husband had to get stuck in and help me handle all the materials during its production.
It took 8 sheets of 70x100mm of G F Smith Transclear paper, all cut and machine stitched, to construct the puppet form. It's the strangest-looking piece of work I have ever created, something that, aesthetically, I'm uncertain about. That was the whole point - to make something purely from imagination without needing any validation from an audience. It was something that emerged out of me from within. I like the challenge of staying with a concept or idea through a highly technical and systematic printmaking process.
Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?
I've got an article in Pressing Matters Magazine Issue 24. My website blog is also an excellent place to see recent projects I've been involved in.
I have a small shop there and update products when I get time to do new work. I sell from my studio at open studio events, too! Instagram is an excellent place to stay abreast of things, and sign up for my monthly newsletter for sneak peeks about projects, collaborations and new print releases.
What will we be seeing from you next?
Alongside developing some prints for my shop, I will mentor other creatives to realise their ideas and ambitions. This is new for me, and I'm excited to embark on this in 2024.
Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?
Printmaking is full of possibilities; enjoy the process and keep making - no matter what! Do that thing you are scared to do; that is what you need to get started.
To see more from Sue follow her on Instagram and sign up to her Newsletter!
]]>For this project, we will be using a mounted lino block as we plan to use this block to print onto fabric.
Start by drawing around your block four times as shown below. This will give you space to see what a few repeats will look like. Do this a few times on a large sheet of paper so that you have more than one area to work through your ideas.
Using a ruler, rule out your grids in different ways. Horizontally or diagonally can create different and very interesting designs. We find folding the paper also helps to keep things accurate.
Cut out your working area and fold to create a grid within your template.
Use these as guides for placing elements in your design. Graph paper can be really useful here too instead of drawing your own guides.
Using your guidelines, start in the middle of your block with a simple element. Repeat this in the middle of each of your drawn squares. This will give you an idea of what the block could look like when it is printed in repeat.
Add more elements, repeating in each square as you go, so that you can visualise the final result. As you can see, you can be quite rough as it is just a guide.
Once you are happy with the design try colouring in the areas you would like to print. This will give you more of an idea of how your design will look when it is printed.
Colouring in the opposite areas can create a really different pattern. Try inverting it in photoshop or making a copy on tracing paper and colouring in the opposite areas.
Carefully cut out one of your squares that you've drawn in the first step. this is what you will transfer onto your block for carving.
Transfer your design to your block ready for carving using this tutorial here.
For an alternative design idea, we can use a similar grid like method that incorporates the background as part of our design.
For this project you will need:
We’ve had a lot of fun this week working on easy, quick and fun ways to print your own Christmas cards! We’ve come up with six simple ways for you to try. Take a look at our instructions below and have a go yourself.
Bah Humbug Lino Printed Card
This two-layered lino card is quick, easy and so effective on these square kraft cards.
Drypoint Robin Christmas Card
This drypoint card can be traced from a photograph into a simple line drawing. A mono-printed red breast is made with a swipe of an inky thumb and will be slightly different on each card you print!
This method requires a press so feel free to pop into our studio to print yours!
Mastercut Holly Christmas Card
This card is such a quick make and is so easy to print in large quantities with Versacraft ink pads. A pencil eraser is a resourceful and quick way to print the berries!
Safeprint Bauble Christmas Card
This is a great option to print with children. Safeprint sheets of polystyrene are brilliant for quick printing. You need hardly any materials – the patterns are printed with the end of a biro! You’ll just need to cut out the shape for them as, to get neat edges, it needs to be done with a craft knife.
Foiled Christmas Card
This is one of our favourite ways to make a card, and it certainly the quickest! You will need a black toner photocopy of your design. This can be from a carbon photocopier or toner printer. Inkjet will not work with this method.
Screen Printed Snowflake Christmas Card
These cutout snowflakes make the perfect paper stencils for a screen printed card. Layered up with silver ink, these cards are so Christmassy, we couldn’t
stop printing them!
We hope you have given you some ideas for how to print your Christmas cards this year. Try one method, or try them all!
]]>Describe your printmaking process.
Making reduction prints is quite a long process, with a fair bit of planning and organising before you even get started. I would usually start out with a design that includes the different colours that will make up the layers of the print. I then spend a LOT of time tearing down paper, making a registration sheet, and adding tabs to the paper so that each layer aligns. Then I start carving and printing the first layer, usually the palest colour in the design, but not always! I have to be quite patient waiting for each layer to dry and usually end up changing my plans as I go along. I love playing with colour and often can’t resist straying from my original plan...
How and where did you learn to print?
I learnt to print during the pandemic when I was living at home with my parents, having abandoned our teeny flat in London. Both of my parents are printmakers and my mother (Sarah Gillespie) is lucky enough to have a press in her home studio. Neither of them have much interest in linocut, but there were a few ancient bits of lino lying around some very rusty old tools were dug out. Weirdly they had a hunch that i would get on with the graphic lines of lino - and they were right! I was immediately addicted, and spent the rest of lockdown happily carving and printing away. I was very lucky to have them guiding me as well as a very strange series of circumstances that led to me living there and having the time to learn this new skill.
Why printmaking?
As mentioned above, I very much stumbled into printmaking. I had, in fact, mostly avoided it because of the fact it was very much ‘mum’s thing’ and my ’thing’ had been music for almost all of my 20s. Having tried to make a life in music and really struggled, I came to print with a very different attitude, determined not to get bogged down in meaning, genre or what other people think, and instead to just follow my instinct and not worry too much about end results. It was immediately very refreshing for me to be able to work independently in this way - rather than relying on the host of support you need to even make one song in the music world - and I was able to create pretty much whatever I wanted, in a time-scale that suited me, and I loved it!
Where do you work?
I work mostly in my tiny home studio, where I recently invested in my first table-top etching press. I love working from home and being able to pick away at things at all hours. I like to work in quite a sporadic way, doing lots of different tasks at once, and also changing my mind a lot… so being at home works for me as I have all the different papers and colours I need right here, rather than splitting all my gear between home and a separate studio.
Describe a typical day in your studio.
I generally split my day between a whole host of different tasks, but a typical day usually includes: some admin in the morning (stock checks, ordering, replying to messages and emails, social media), printing in the middle of the day and then packing prints in the late afternoon when I have run out of creative energy! Typically the admin side of things can really eat into printing time, which is a shame, but it is an inevitable and crucial part of the reality of running your own business.
How long have you been printmaking?
Since 2020, so not long really!
What inspires you?
I think my main inspiration comes from the plant life that surrounds us in the every day - so, houseplants, gardens, allotments etc. It felt really important during the pandemic to find joy and inspiration in the ordinary and I have just continued with that train of thought. There is so much once you start looking! I love trying to grow flowers and veg and a lot of this year’s inspiration has come from my own little garden.
What is your favourite printmaking product?
I am obsessed with handmade paper.. Using textured, irregular paper really brings designs to life and makes each print a little different.
What have you made that you are most proud of?
I am most proud of a large reduction print I made called ‘Morning Light’. It took me months to complete and is by far the most ambitious reduction I have taken on to date. The image is of my Grandmother’s flat, where my partner and I lived for two years while we were looking for our own home in Bristol. It's special to me as it reminds me of her and also of quite a difficult time in my own life, lots of complex feelings and memories all woven together and embodied in an image. I thought it would be too personal to sell alongside my other prints, but people seem to really like it too.
Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?
To get the best idea of my work and how I make it I would recommend looking at my Instagram where I have made a lot of videos of my reduction processes. I sell my work via Etsy.
What will we be seeing from you next?
So next I am very much focussed on having my baby! It’s a strange time for me creatively as I figure out how I will navigate becoming a mother whilst also continuing to run my business and create. Things will definitely shift and change, but in ways I can’t be entirely certain of just yet. I can say that I am working on a few collaborations with clothing/fabric designers, and that I will be able to reveal more about that early next year.
Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?
My advice would be to plan less and intuit more. We get so stuck planning things out sometimes that we never even get to starting a project! Not to mention the fact that it can really suck the joy out of the process. I have talked about this a lot on my Instagram - it’s so important to remain in love with the process, and planning too meticulously can really dull the joy and discovery of the magical printing process.
To see more from Grace, follow her on Instagram!
]]>By creating some test strips for both line and tones, you’ll create yourself a reference point that you can use to help plan out your etchings.
This blog is part of a series featuring tips and techniques to get you started with aluminium or zinc plate etching. This post will explain how you can test the strength of your copper sulphate solution.
To make a test strip for lines:
First, degrease your plate and coat it in hard grounds, as outlined in this earlier blog post.
Next, plan for what intervals you would like to test. Our copper sulphate mordant has been made fresh, so we’re going to test our solution with an aluminium plate at 1-minute intervals, and for a total of 5 mins – so 5 stages in total. If your mordant is older, you may want to increase the time.
For each segment, we'll submerge our plate in the mordant for one minute intervals. As we progress to the final stage, each segment will have it's total exposure time as planned.
In the first segment designated for 5 minutes, we made some varying marks into the grounds using an etching needle. We recommend some thin lines, thick lines and some hatching. You only want to make marks into the grounds to reveal the surface of the plate, rather than scratching into the plate itself.
Put some plastic parcel tape on the back of your plate to protect it. Leave a longer piece on the top and fold it over to make a little handle.
Set up two plastic trays side by side. Wearing gloves and goggles, shake up your copper sulphate mordant (see how to make copper sulphate mordant here) and pour it into one plastic tray. Fill the second tray with 2 inches of water.
Get your stopwatch ready and set it to your increment length – in our case, one minute. Wearing gloves and goggles, carefully place your plate into the copper sulphate solution and start your stopwatch.
When the timer is up, remove your plate using the plastic tape handle. Immediately place your plate into the water bath to remove any copper sulphate solution. Use a feather to lightly remove any copper particles.
Once rinsed, remove your plate from the water bath. You’ll be able to see all the marks in your segment will have etched slightly.
Moving on to the next segment, make the same marks again.
Take your plate back to the copper sulphate bath for another one-minute dip. Our latest segment is getting a minute of exposure to the mordant, but our first segment is getting an additional minute at this point.
These steps are repeated, until the last segment. Through this process, each segment will have been exposed to the mordant for different amounts of time total, and in your planned increments.
When your plate has had its final dip, clean off the grounds using Zest-It and a cloth, rag or sponge. You’ll be able to see that the marks have different levels of ‘bite’, with one end being the lightest, and one end being the darkest.
You can now ink up your plate and take a print to see how the variety of lines translate to print. Use this print when planning on how long to etch your future plates for.
Here is how our test strip for lines worked out:
Click here to download a larger version
To make a test strip for tones:
First, degrease your plate as outlined in this earlier blog post – but we aren’t going to apply any grounds this time. Dry off your plate using a hairdryer and avoid touching the surface.
Next, plan for how many intervals you would like to test. Because we've made a fresh batch, we’re going to test our solution with an aluminium plate at 5 second intervals, with 5 stages in total. If your mordant is fairly old, you may want to test at up to 30 second intervals.
Next, apply some Stop-Out Varnish to the first segment. The varnish will protect this area and stop the mordant from reaching the plate surface. Remember to use Stop-Out Varnish in a well-ventilated space. Allow the Stop-Out Varnish to dry completely.
Once your plate is dry, put some plastic parcel tape on the back of your plate to protect it. Leave a longer piece on the top and fold it over to make a little handle. This will make to easier to dip in and out of the copper sulphate mordant.
Set up two plastic trays side by side. Wearing gloves and goggles, shake up your copper sulphate mordant and pour it into one plastic tray. Fill the second tray with 2 inches of water.
Get your stopwatch ready and set it to your increment length – in our case, 5 seconds. Wearing gloves and goggles, carefully place your plate into the copper sulphate solution and start your stopwatch.
When the timer is up, remove your plate using the plastic tape handle. Immediately place your plate into the water bath to remove any copper sulphate solution. Use a feather to lightly remove any copper particles.
Once rinsed, remove your plate from the water bath and dry off using a cool hair dryer. You’ll be able to see that the exposed surface of the plate has changed slightly.
When your plate is dry, apply some more Stop-Out Varnish to the next segment and allow it to dry.
When the varnish is dry, take your plate back to the copper sulphate bath for another 5 second dip.
Same as before, remove your plate from the copper sulphate solution when the timer is up, and place it straight into the water bath. Dry off your plate again and apply Stop-Out Varnish to the next segment. Once dry, it’s back to the copper sulphate solution again.
These steps are repeated, until there is only one segment left exposed and all the others have had Stop Out Varnish applied to them. Through this process, each segment will have been exposed to the mordant for different amounts of time.
When your plate has had its final dip, clean off the Stop-Out Varnish using Zest-It and a rag.
You’ll be able to see that the plate segments have different levels of ‘bite’, with one end being the lightest, and one end being the darkest.
You can now ink up your plate and take a print to see how the variety of tones translate to print. Use this print when planning on how long to etch your future plates for.
Here is how our test strip for tones worked out:
Click here to download a larger version
More Tips
For this project, you will need:
Copper Sulphate Mordant
Two Plastic Trays
Paint Brush
A Stopwatch
Dry Rag
We’ve chosen to print a skeleton and here’s how we did it:
Start by drawing your design onto copy paper, making sure that it fits onto the surface of the top. We’re using a dark green school jersey – this project is perfect for up-cycling your kids’ old worn out ones.
When you’re happy with your design, cut it out using a craft knife or scalpel. Remember that the cut out areas are the parts that will print.
We also made an arm-bones stencil for the sleeves of our top on a separate sheet of paper.
Place a piece of newspaper inside your garment, just in case any ink goes through to the other side. Lay it flat on a slightly padded surface. Place your stencil where you would like your design to be printed.
Use parcel tape to tape up the edges of your screen on the front and the back of the mesh. Place the screen on top of the stencil. Make sure there are no gaps around the edges of your stencil. If there are, add more more tape to the screen to fill the gaps.
Spoon a line of Night Glo ink along the top of the screen.
Use your squeegee at a 45 degree angle to gently drag the ink down the screen. This floods the mesh with a thin, even layer of ink.
When you reach the bottom, scrape any excess ink off the squeegee. Bring the squeegee back to the top and pull it down the screen, again at a 45 degree angle, pressing firmly this time. The Night Glo ink is pretty thick so will require a quite a lot of pressure to get through the mesh. You may want to get someone to hold the screen still as you might need to use both hands on the squeegee. If you are printing with your kids, you might have to help them push hard enough on this bit.
Carefully remove the screen to reveal your print! Peel off the stencil and wash the ink out of the mesh straight away.
When your screen is dry, repeat the process with any additional stencils. We used our arm-bone stencil on each sleeve. Don’t forget to wash your screen right away or the ink will dry and ruin the mesh.
Our finished skeleton top!
For this project you will need:
How and where did you learn to print?
I studied fine art at Central School of Art and Design in London. I was initially on the sculpture course, but in the first term of the first year, we spent time in each of the printmaking departments and by the end of this, I knew sculpture wasn't for me and asked if I could transfer to printmaking. A few years ago, I also began to work in stone lithography at Edinburgh Printmakers. Since moving further north, I've not been able to continue with this, but I loved drawing and painting onto the stone and love the subtle washes and quality of drawn line that this print process makes possible. So I hope to be able to do it again before too long. I've recently set up a screen printing table in my studio, so I'm enjoying spending more time exploring this process, along with my lino cutting and wood engraving.
Why printmaking?
When I first walked into the relief printing and lithography studio at Central, I was hooked. I liked the presses, rollers, and tools, the prints hanging in drying racks (those old wooden ones with the marbles to hold the paper) and especially the smell of ink. I enjoy the processes involved in printmaking and the way each stage informs what you will do next and naturally transforms your initial image and ideas. I've realised that I like to make multiples of images, and this also plays into my love of pattern.
Where do you work?
I have a studio at home on Speyside in northeast Scotland. We're on the side of a hill looking across to mountains and woodland. My studio is attached to an old croft cottage, and I've a space to draw, paint and cut lino and wood engraving blocks and draw onto films for screen printing. My screen printing table now sits alongside my Albion press.
Describe a typical day in your studio.
It depends on the projects I'm working on, but days tend to involve a range of processes. I usually have a wood engraving block on the go and might continue to work on cutting this or a linocut. When I'm editioning I often print a colour on a couple of linocuts or wood engravings while also working on a new screen print. I might also spend time mounting and wrapping prints to send out to galleries - so there then might be a drive to the local Post Office and a chance to walk our Border terrier Piper down by the River Spey. This time spent in the nearby landscape is a big inspiration for my work. I may work on pattern ideas and perhaps look at colourways for a fabric or wallpaper. I'll also sketch ideas for future prints. I find that while I'm printing, I'm thinking about the next image as each print seems to lead onto the next.
How long have you been printmaking?
I began printmaking in the mid-1980s at Central, so it's been a long time!
What inspires you?
The landscape and wild flowers around me here in northeast Scotland and also the islands of the Hebrides on Scotland's west coast. My work increasingly includes plants that I grow in the garden and my polytunnel. I now grow dahlias, parrot tulips and other plants specifically to include in prints and paintings. Our home is on the side of an exposed hill, so the polytunnel allows me to grow a wider range of plants, and it's a sheltered place to spend time outside in the winter.
What have you made that you are most proud of?
In 2017, I curated an exhibition in Winchester called 'A Printmaker's Journey', which included a range of my prints, paintings and fabrics along with works by artists and designers that have inspired me.
It was a 'Desert Island Discs' format, in a way, and it was a challenge, but fun, to come up with a final list. Exhibits ranged from a painting by Alan Reynolds, 'Summer: Young September's Cornfield', which I first saw on a 6th form visit to Tate Britain (I still have the postcard that I bought on my studio wall!) to works by contemporary artists such as Jonny Hannah, Ed Kluz, Emily Sutton and Mark Hearld. I included a sculpture and a print by Paul Morrison, ceramics by Paul Scott and Eric Ravilious, textiles by Enid Marx and Ashley Havinden, a Shell advertising poster by Graham Sutherland and woven willow by Lizzie Farey.
I aimed to give an overview of my influences and the work that has stayed with me throughout my life. It was a big project, but I was helped so much by a great curator at the gallery and by all the galleries and artists who generously loaned work for the exhibition. It revealed that, although we all have so many influences on our work that may seem unrelated, there is a common thread running through it all.
Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?
My website at showcases all of my prints and paintings, and my fabrics and wallpapers can be found on the St Jude's website.
I exhibit my prints in several galleries, including the Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh, Cambridge Contemporary Art, Bankside Gallery in London and Bircham Gallery in Holt, Norfolk.
What will we be seeing from you next?
I have a print exhibition, 'Through the Seasons', from 6th - 28th October 2023 at Castle Gallery, Inverness.
In February 2024, I'll be exhibiting in 'Screenprint 2024' at Centrespace Gallery in Bristol.
Also in 2024 is a solo show of my prints, watercolours, fabrics and wallpapers at Watts Contemporary Gallery, Surrey, from 21st March - 16th June.
In March 2024, Thames and Hudson will publish 'The Book of Wild Flowers', my latest collaboration with the author Christopher Stocks.
Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?
Try to absorb as diverse a range of influences as possible, as then your work will develop a style entirely of its own.
To see more from Angie follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
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How and where did you learn to print?
I did my foundation at KIAD (formerly Maidstone College of Art, latterly UCCA and now completely extinct!) and there was a brilliant printmaking department, with enthusiastic tutors who had time to give one-to-one guidance so I was lucky enough to experiment with etching, lithography and screenprint. I moved on to study illustration at Brighton but never quite mustered up the confidence to use the print studios when I was there. It required booking a time slot and really knowing what you were doing, which just felt too intimidating, so I abandoned printmaking for a long time and spent the next decade focussing on drawing and wandering around London.
A few years ago I began evening classes in East London with a brilliant tutor called Anna Dyke. The studio in Shadwell was in the roof space of an old school building, so beautiful and atmospheric and just a short walk from my flat in Whitechapel. Anna demonstrated all the different types of printmaking but allowed students to develop their own work really freely, providing really personal guidance and encouragement. I joyfully flailed my way through a few terms of classes before really getting stuck in to my own way of working, falling for woodcut and monotype but feeling most excited about drypoint as it’s the closest thing to drawing.
Why printmaking?
My drawings tend to be really fast, taking just a few minutes to make. Printmaking is a great challenge as it cannot be rushed - it feels like I’m using an entirely different piece of my brain to that which does drawing. It forces to me measure, plan, be methodical and patient - skills in which I’m deficient in in all areas of life.
I think of the relationship between printmaking and drawing as symbiotic - the print begins as a drawing but my drawing has been improved enormously by my experience of printmaking, pushing me to really think about composition and how to use space to serve your image.
Describe your printmaking process and where you work.
My studio is the kitchen table, at home. When I left London I struggled to find an open access printmaking studio and don’t have the space or money to set up a permanent print studio at home. As is so often the case, having to adapt has been really beneficial.
I make all my prints using a plastic Sissix Die Cutting Machine. I use the larger model that lets you work up to A4, it’s called a “BIG SHOT’ which cracks me up every time I say it out loud but it works really well for someone like me who prints small (most of the plates are only a few cm) and needs to get set up quickly so I can get as much done as possible in the few hours I have each evening after my son has gone to bed and before I start falling asleep. It’s not as beautiful or graceful as rolling your prints through a heavy roller press but it’s an inexpensive machine that you can shove under the bed when you’re not using it, and it does the job pretty well. The only tricky part of the process is trying not to blob ink onto pale carpet in our rental house.
How long have you been printmaking?
After a bit of mucking around for a decade I would say that I’ve been doing it seriously for two years.
What inspires you?
My work is about ordinary things that I notice, or remember, sometimes other people’s stories or films or music too. It’s great that I find mundane things a source of inspiration, so I can go through my day gathering ideas. I don’t have lots of time to draw or print but can feel like I’m working in my mind even when I’m busy in my daily domestic life.
Printmakers that I admire include Louise Bourgeois, Marc Chagall, Enid Marx, Gertrude Hermes, Dora Carrington, Eric Ravilious, Edouard Vuillard and Mary Cassatt. I really love Beryl Bainbridge, most famous for her books but she also made wonderful paintings and etchings, too. Full of sadness and humour and the kind of domestic detail that I strive to achieve in my pictures, too.
What is your favourite printmaking product?
My set up is pretty makeshift and don’t have much specialist kit, apart from the marvellous BIG SHOT machine. I raid the kitchen for most of my supplies, wetting the paper with a washing up sponge and spreading out ink with a teaspoon. When the prints are finished I lay them all out to dry on teatowels overnight then press them flat under a pile of heavy cookbooks.
I do love Caligo Ink but I find them sticky and tricky to use in a domestic environment so nowadays I mostly use the Akua Intaglio ink in Paynes Gray.
What have you made that you are most proud of?
The challenge for me is to retain the energy of a drawing in each print, and I like the idea that a mark made in one fleeting moment can be repeated indefinitely and still transmit a feeling of vitality. I have found that trying to turn a drawing I’ve already made into a print is really tricky - it somehow always turns out weaker than the original drawing. Something in the feeling of the line gets lost, and I’ve wasted many hours endlessly adjusting a print to try and make it work before accepting defeat with furious and flamboyant swearing before chucking the whole lot in the bin.
I’ve now stopped trying to turn a drawing into a print and have begun to make drawings specifically for drypoints, thinking about the possibilities of the medium that drawing does not offer, experimenting with cutting the plate into different shapes (Man In Shower) or assembling an image from more than one plate (Baby Monitor) and these are some of the prints that I see as my most successful.
Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?
I never quite get around to setting up a proper website and I mostly sell prints through Instagram - people message me about a print they like and I post it out. I have done a few print fairs too, which have been great as it’s been a way to meet other artists working locally, as since moving out of London I have felt pretty isolated.
I recently read that someone had described me as 'an artist who exists partially within Instagram' which is undeniably true but gave me a bit of a sharp kick. I think it's important that my work exists mostly outside of Instagram so I'm currently making some new work that will exist in the off-screen world, including a new book project that has brought me into entirely new realms of fun and frustration.
What will we be seeing from you next?
In recent years (since having a baby, moving out of London and being locked down) most of my work is small scale and personal and each drawing only takes a few minutes. I’m now beginning to work towards some more developed work that explores things beyond my own front door. I’ve been pretty content with solitary working for a while but I’ve had a few really fun creative collaborative experiences this year and I’ve started to crawl out of my cave and make connections with other artists and organisations that I hope will bear fruit over the next few years.
Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?
Try to be born to rich parents. And if that doesn’t quite work out then…just make work! Draw, print or paint but don’t wait for an idea to strike. I’ve wasted time waiting to have enough time or space or money to get started but you just have to make things however and whenever you can and the process will reveal what is important and exciting and fascinating to you.
To see more from Pia, follow her on Instagram!
]]>Keeping a note of your recipe every step of the way is helpful for mixing future colours, and for mixing the same colour repeatedly and accurately. It also makes things easier and quicker in the long run if you are selling your work and need consistency.
Tips before you start:
The inks that are mixed using our Fabric Screen Printing Binder will be translucent, perfect for printing onto pale and natural backgrounds, and layering colours over each other. You can use this colour mixing method with our Opaque Fabric Screen Printing Binder for printing onto coloured cloth, but colours may vary.
We have tested Magenta, Turquoise, and Lemon Yellow in different amounts of pigment to 100g of binder: 1 drop, 5 drops, 10 drops and 20 drops for each colour. This will show you the range of shades that can be achieved with just one colour.
First, measure out 100g of Fabric Screen Printing Binder on your scales.
Next, give your unopened pigment a shake. Be carful when opening it as it will stain! A small drop goes a long way.
Using your Pipet, extract a small amount of pigment. Start by adding just one drop of pigment to your binder.
Next, add more pigment to your binder, drop by drop. We have added an additional 4 drops to make it a total of 5.
We then did a test print with this stronger mixture, as we did before with the one drop mixture.
Increase the pigment to 10 drops by adding 5 extra drops, thoroughly mix and then test print onto fabric.
Increase the mixture further to 20 drops by adding 10 extra drops. Mix and test.
Here are the results of the four tests, using Magenta pigment and 100g of binder.
1. = 1 Drop, 2. = 5 Drops, 3. = 10 Drops, 4. = 20 Drops
This is a really good way to see how each drop effects the strength of the final colour. It is also good to observe how the colours in the pot look very different to when printed, making it essential to test your colours and keep notes.
Here are the tests for Turquoise and Lemon Yellow.
1 = 1 Drop, 2 = 5 Drops, 3 = 10 Drops, 4 = 20 Drops
Next we have mixed different amounts of each colour to make some examples of secondary colours that can be achieved using these process colours.
Different amounts of each process colour to make secondary colours: orange, green and purple.
Green: 1/4 Turquoise (20g) + 3/4 Lemon Yellow (60g)
Orange: 1/3 Magenta (20g) + 2/3 Lemon Yellow (40g)
Purple: 1/3 Turquoise (20g) + 2/3 Magenta (40g)
Here are the results of these tests. You can use different amounts of each colour to make infinite shades.
Once your print has dried fully, remember to iron it to heat set the colours.
Examples of colours Maud has mixed at home:
Maud at Handprinted mixes colours at home for her block printing onto fabric. She likes to make her colours dirtier by adding a touch or black or brown. Here are some examples of her messy colour recipe book. She normally starts with 200g or 250g of binder, and scales up the recipe if she is printing something large!
What you will need for this project:
Describe your printmaking process.
I love to layer different printmaking techniques together, usually starting with mono or lino printed shapes. I continue to layer shapes and colour using lino cuts, mono printing and drypoint prints until I'm happy with the result. So the prints evolve as I add layers and there's no preconceived idea of what I'm wanting to create, apart from the colour which I usually have planned before I start.
How and where did you learn to print?
I initially learnt to print at college and learnt more when I went to Cambridge School of Art on a BA Hons Fine Art/Printmaking Course.
Why printmaking?
When I was first introduced to Printmaking at college, something clicked and I took to it instantly, I fell in love with the endless possibilities printmaking offered and was hooked. I'm attracted to the quality of line, textures, transparencies of colour and the chance element printmaking delivers.
Where do you work?
I work in my studio my husband built me at the very end of our garden, the studio was built mostly from reclaimed materials so it's very quirky and a lovely place to create.
Describe a typical day in your studio.
A typical day in my studio involves choosing the right music which goes on before I do anything. If I'm starting new work I'll start by printing the first layer of shapes and a colour from my chosen colour palette. I use oil based etching inks, they can take up to a week to dry, while I'm waiting I'll work in my sketchbook, drawing or collaging ideas for future work, cut new lino blocks or make collagraph plates.
How long have you been printmaking?
I've been printmaking ever since I was introduced to print at college, so for 22 years.
What inspires you?
Found objects, shapes and materials inspire me. I use the resources around me in everyday life to feed my ideas, often sketching outside along the coastline. I enjoy this way of working because of the unpredictability of what I may find next, which informs my next body of work.
Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?
You can see my work on my website where I have a gallery, shop and where I advertise printmaking classes.
I sell mostly at galleries and art fairs which differs every year but you can find out where I'll be next next on my website.
What will we be seeing from you next?
I'm planning on experimenting with liquid tape which I can brush on my prints between layers to reveal the layer underneath and liquid carborundum which I can also brush on which will hold the ink and give me dark printed brush marks.
Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?
Advice I would give to printmakers or others who want to try printmaking, is to experiment a lot, embrace the mistakes, it's about learning and don't be afraid to mix it up, prints don't have to be made using one technique.
To see more from Evelyn follow her on Instagram.
]]>For this project we're going to need a cyanotype kit. The kit contains two bottles, each with powder in the bottom. Fill each bottle with water to make two separate solutions (we mix them just before using). It’s best to add water to the bottles 24 hours before you intend to use them, and make sure to give them a good shake so all powder fully dissolves.
Before we start we need to assemble our 'exposure unit'. We used an old Cranfield box to make ours but any cardboard box will work, as long as it is larger than the paper or fabric you are going to be using. We started by removing the bottom box flaps and cutting a rectangular hole out of the top just smaller than our Speedball UV Lamp (approximately 14.5 x 11cm). We then lined the inside with tin foil to help reflect the UV light during the exposure time. The tin foil inside the box will help to intensify the light as it will bounce off of the walls.
When you’re ready to make your cyanotypes you'll need to combine the two solutions together. Work in a space with very subdued lighting if possible and mix the two solutions together in equal quantities. There’s no need to mix the whole amount together at once: it’s better if you only mix what you need as the life of the mixed solution is only a couple of hours.
You can make cyanotypes on fabrics or paper – experiment with different surfaces. Once the cyanotypes are made they will be fixed and washable.
Paint the mixed solution onto your paper or fabric and leave to dry in a completely dry and dark space – a closed cupboard or box works well. The mixture will stain so be sure to lay down a protective surface first.
After an hour or so, these should be dry. Make sure to cover them up whilst moving them to your exposure area. Placing them between two trays works well.
For this next step you want to again work in subdued lighting to prevent the solution from over exposing. When you are ready, place your paper or fabric down on a flat surface and place your film negative or chosen objects on top. To ensure direct contact between your negative/objects and the coated paper, we have found it best to place a sheet of glass over the top.
Once everything is in position place your DIY exposure box over the top and place your Speedball UV lamp directly over the window you have cut out. When you're ready to go, turn the lamp on and set your timer for 15 minutes. Timings may vary depending on the image you are using. For our image, we found that 15 minutes was sufficient.
As the cyanotype solution exposes it will start to turn from green to blue and then bronze. Cyanotypes will be paler if they’re under-exposed. This is how ours looks straight after the 15 minute exposure.
When your print has finished exposing, remove your paper or fabric from under the glass and immediately place it into a shallow bowl or tray of water to stop the exposure process. If you are working on a print run, this is a great time to get your next print set up and exposing. After 5 mins, remove your print from the water bath and rinse it under a tap until the water runs clear. Leave your print to dry, ideally between some blotting sheets.
For this project you will need:
Describe your printmaking process.
I mostly work in reduction linocut which means cutting away each colour from the same block of lino. I start with a simple outline sketch with a sharpie. Then Iooking at my photograph I cut out the colour I want to keep on the paper starting with white and making my way through the colours I want to use. I don’t have a plan I just keep going until I think it’s finished. I don’t have a press, I mostly use a big metal serving spoon to rub the back of the paper. For me the most important thing is the composition, I want the viewer to be led into the picture, and want to look around and notice the little details, and the 2nd is getting the colours right. I often show my whole process as a News post on my website.
How and where did you learn to print?
I got into printmaking about 10 years ago, a friend who had a gallery, which only sold prints thought I should try so he could sell my work. I’m mostly making it up as I go along but I did do a 3 day Ian Philips course early on which was a great help. It also changed me from soft lino to the grey hessian backed and introduced me to reduction cutting and the Ternes Burton registration YEY!
Why printmaking?
I love making mistakes and experimenting because they usually lead to a good discovery.
Where do you work?
I work from a studio in my house, which is lovely and light. I like to mix my colours and print during the day and cut at night. I have 3 little dogs and I get out onto the coastal paths most days so I’m always being inspired by the landscapes around me. I take photos and share them on a separate Instagram account for anyone to use.
What inspires you?
Water inspires me and I love the challenge of trying to capture it in all of it’s moods. I was vey happy when I overheard people at Printfest saying how much they liked my water.
What is your favourite printmaking product?
My favourite printmaking products are probably the Speedball inks because they dry so quickly and I can get onto the next layer. Sometimes I mix them with the Graphic Chemicals and although they’re oil based they’re water washable so mixing them works for me. The Ternes Burton registration pins and tabs are essential and I love the palette knives because I just love the feeling of mixing the ink.
What have you made that you are most proud of?
My proud moment is that I’ve just got my ‘Winter Sun’ print through to the finals of the David Shepheard Wildlife Artist of the Year. It’s in the category ‘Earth’s Wild Beauty” and it took me a couple of months and lots of walks until I got my photo to work from. It will be in The Mall Galleries in London in September.
Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?
You can see my work on my website and I’ve joined Art Space, a lovely gallery on the harbour in St Ives. There are seven artists showing work there and I’m in the gallery every Tuesday. I’m also a member of The Cornish Craft Association and their gorgeous Gallery is at Trelissick Garden, National Trust near Truro.
I have two exhibitions coming up, I will be in The Terrace Gallery, Penryn until the 9th September and my work will be in The Bolthole, Ironbridge, Shropshire throughout September. You'll also find me at the Saltaire Makers Fair on September 16th and 17th. If you’re down my way you’re always welcome to get in touch to plan a visit to my studio.
Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?
My advice for anybody who would like to have a go at Printmaking is to just go for it, you’ll surprise yourself.
To see more from Hazel follow her on Instagram and Facebook.
]]>I make linocut prints by the reduction method. This is where all the colours come from the same piece of lino with the successive cutting away of the lino block and printing a new colour over the top of the last. The edition size has to be decided at the beginning as there is no going back once the lino has been cut again and the whole edition must be completed at the same time. As well as being risky, as you can’t be certain how well it will turn out, it is very labour intensive with long printing sessions.
How and where did you learn to print?
I did a Fine Art Printmaking and Book Arts degree at Croydon College before going on to Wimbledon School of Art to study for a Master’s Degree in Printmaking.
Why printmaking?
I think printmaking more chose me. On an earlier foundation course at Richmond College I tried various art forms through different modules and it was printmaking that seemed to fit my ideas and way of working. By the time I had completed my first degree I realised I wanted to work for myself as an artist and preferably in my own space as I’m easily distracted by working with others around. Though at times I do enjoy the company and support. I figured I could set up my own studio.
Where do you work?
On completion of my Master’s degree I bought a Victorian Albion press and set up studio in our garage space easing my carpenter husband out into a new shed in the garden. The garage has the height for the press and my overhead marble drying racks. I also like this space as the temperature is more constant, not too cold in the winter and not too hot in the summer.
Describe a typical day in your studio.
There’s not really a typical day, but my ideal day is having all day working on prints without need to go anywhere else. I start with a cup of tea and check emails and social media. If it’s a new print I will then be drawing. This can be quite intense and I need breaks, it’s also my procrastination stage and I will fiddle a lot, but once I get started I’m absorbed by it. First in my sketchbook then transferring to the lino. I will also need to cut paper down to size. Once I have made the first cuts I am ready to print. Depending on the size of the print itself and the edition size I could be printing for a couple of hours or all day before being ready to move on to the next stage in the reduction. Waiting for ink to dry is often the worst time. It could take a day or two but, especially in colder weather, several days, a week maybe. But that is time to turn to other jobs, sorting stock, mounting and framing for the next show, ordering materials, getting ideas for the next print and so on. There are also other things to fit into the working week. I might be packaging something for the post, with the necessary post office trip, or doing a gallery sit with one of the cooperatives, or some other job connected to the cooperative, or delivering work to another gallery. As a self-employed small business every job falls to the individual. It’s not all about the creative side.
How long have you been printmaking?
Counting the time I spent studying printmaking over 25 years, but as a full time self employed artist for about 18 or 19 years I think.
What inspires you?
I’m mostly inspired by architecture and our cities. I’m particularly drawn to London as it’s local to me. I love the way the old sits with the new. I also love it that some of the buildings have been there a long time and there’s some amazing history behind them.
What is your favourite printmaking product?
My durathene rollers. I have several in different sizes to use depending on the size of the print I’m inking. And my press, oh yes, my lovely 1847 Albion Press.
What have you made that you are most proud of?
That’s a difficult question. I was told when I started out that the last piece I have worked on will always be my favourite. But that’s not always true. Some have challenged me more and I’ve pushed myself further or in a different way. And it’s those that are special. In 2020 as we were going into our first lockdown I was working on 'Passing Storm'. Originally it was more about the view east over the Thames in London from Hungerford Bridge and was going to have a sunshiny day blue sky. But with more thinking time being “stuck” at home and the need to take my mind away from virus thoughts the idea of stormy skies grew. There had been a day the previous summer I had been caught in one such storm on a day out in London. It was going to be different for me.
Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?
I’m with Greenwich Printmakers, a cooperative with a gallery in Greenwich Market where I have work year round. I’m also with the Fountain Gallery near Hampton Court, another cooperative where I have my own fortnight show every year. I have work with several other galleries and take part in some art fairs including the Affordable Art Fair in Hampstead and Battersea and fairs at my local arts centre in Teddington. I try to keep my website updated with the shows I’m doing and galleries I exhibit with. I also sell from my website. And try to keep a presence going on social media, particularly Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
What will we be seeing from you next?
I don’t like to say too much about what I’m working on just incase it doesn’t turn out as well as I hope. But I can safely say I’m currently focusing on making some prints of the Thames in the centre of London. I’m trying to introduce a more playful element than I usually do and not sure how successful this aspect will be. I’m thinking of doing more of the river after I’ve finished these.
Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?
Some advice I was given early in my art career when I was sometimes struggling and tempted to give up on something was “make it work” or if I am about to start on something “keep it simple”. I have to remind myself often of these and I will pass the same advice on. And one I tell others (and myself) when they’re stuck is just to “do it” or “go for it” or “don’t give up”.
To see more from Jennie, follow her on Instagram!
]]>This blog is part of a series featuring tips and techniques to get you started with aluminium or zinc plate etching. This post will demonstrate the range of tools we stock at Handprinted, and what marks they can make.
First, we planned how we were going to mark our plate. We had 18 tools to test, so we made a plan to divide our plate into 18 sections.
We tested:
Next, we degreased our plate and dried it off with a hairdryer.
We carefully drew out a grid for 18 sections using a sharpie pen, taking care not to touch the surface with our fingertips.
We then coated the plate in hard grounds, as outlined in this earlier blog post.
Following our original plan, we then made a variety of marks with each of the tools. You only need to scrape into the waxy grounds and not into the plate.
We set up two plastic trays side by side. Wearing goggles and gloves, we poured our copper sulphate solution into one tray, and prepared 2inches of water into another tray.
We taped up the back of our plate using plastic parcel tape to protect it from the mordant. We left a longer piece on the top and folded it over to make a little handle. This makes it easier to lift our plate out of the copper sulphate solution.
Following a test strip that shows the strength of our mordant, we decided to set our stopwatch to 8 minutes. Wearing gloves and goggles, we carefully placed our plate into the copper sulphate solution and started our stopwatch.
When the timer was up, we removed the plate from the mordant bath by using the plastic tape handle. We immediately placed the plate into the water bath to remove any remaining copper sulphate solution. We used a feather to lightly remove any copper particles.
Once rinsed, we removed our plate from the water bath. We could see that all the marks in our segments had etched slightly. We used a needle tip to feel the depth of the marks, and to see if our plate required any further time in the copper sulphate solution.
Next, we cleaned off our grounds using Zest-It and a dry rag.
One last step before we print – as per our plan, we used burnishers to smooth out some areas we etched earlier. These tools are used to correct mistakes, smooth out imperfections or create a brighter tone.
Now it’s time to print our plate and get inky! We’re using Caligo Safe Wash Etching Inks by Cranfield. We find they are easy to use and clean up quickly with just a bit of soap and water. We squeezed out a small amount and used a palette knife to loosen up the ink.
Using a piece of mountboard, we scraped the ink across the surface of the plate in one direction. We then rotated the plate 90 degrees and pulled ink across the alternative way.
When the plate was thoroughly coated, we then used some scrim to work the ink in circular motions. With this twisting motion, we’re pushing as much ink as we can into all the little etched marks.
Next, we polished the plate with a clean cloth rag first and them some tissue paper. Try to do this part with flat contact, and a flat palm - don't bunch up the material. Be careful not to over-polish - if you polish too much, you might remove too much ink which would result in a pale print.
Our plate is ready to be printed. The plate looks blue as there is ink still in the grain of the metal. We’re using an aluminium plate, which will never get fully clean or provide bright whites.
Using soaked and blotted Snowdon paper, we took a print using our etching press and blankets.
Now we have a handy reference point for all the types of marks we can make with our tools. We can use this print when planning out our future etchings. Click here to see a larger version with annotations.
For this project, you will need:
Describe your printmaking process.
Almost all my prints start with a drawing. Often this will be a drawing made in a museum, but it could also be a drawing of one of the toys or pieces of folk art I’ve collected over the years, or a drawing of a creature I’ve made myself. I don’t usually make drawings specifically for prints – often I rediscover a drawing in a sketchbook or a drawer, months or years later, and it will spark an idea for a print. I also recycle parts of older prints – often because of a sense that there’s unfinished business. Sometimes I use Photoshop and Procreate to play around with drawings, but I almost never draw digitally – I miss the accidental marks and the history that becomes engrained in the surface of paper. I’m also a big believer in cutting/tearing up drawings and proof prints and moving things around physically, I just don’t find a virtual environment as stimulating. I don’t really have a fixed printmaking process. Obviously there are certain technical steps I need to get right, but as far as possible I try to respond to the materials I’m using – the grain on a particular piece of wood, for example. Once I’ve got a plate that prints, I start playing around with masks, offsets, chine collé and monoprint elements. I also combine different techniques (e.g. mokulito and waterless litho) in the same print. Once I get into the flow of printing, I can become totally engrossed in the process. I try not to judge the results too much while I’m working – I’ve learned it’s best just to keep going and assess the prints at a later date. Very often it’s prints that I didn’t particularly like at the time that turn out to be the most interesting.
How and where did you learn to print?
I first discovered printmaking at school. When I was doing A level Art, I had the luck to be taught by the Australian printmaker Katie Clemson, who was working part-time in the art department. Katie taught us her technique of making complex reduction linocuts using transparent inks and the excitement of revealing the colours created by successive printings remains with me to this day. Around the same time, the printmaker Mark Cheverton (later a founder of the Leith School of Art), showed me how a humble material such as cardboard could be used to make subtle and beautiful prints. After school I went to the Ruskin School of Art at Oxford, where I specialized in sculpture and printmaking. I spent days exploring the cabinets and drawers in the Pitt Rivers Museum, drawing all sorts of strange artefacts that later found their way into my prints. The Head of Printmaking was Jean Lodge, who had studied with Stanley Hayter at Atelier Nord in Paris. I learned about viscosity printing from Jean, and I think that was how I became more interested in exploring how to obtain different results from the same plate(s), rather than printing editions in the traditional sense. I also made a lot of experimental screenprints.
Why printmaking?
For some reason, I find it far easier to create images indirectly. As soon as I start making a plate, I get excited about possible techniques and ideas. This is in complete contrast to painting, where I’ll almost always be consumed by self-doubt and over-think myself to a standstill.
Where do you work?
I’m a keyholder at East London Printmakers, which is an artist-run studio in Mile End. The studio has very good facilities for almost all printmaking techniques – the only real exception is stone litho – and it’s wonderful to have the space to work on large prints. I also have my own studio a short cycle ride from home, where I mostly spend time drawing and making plates. I love printing in a shared space, but I like to do the thinking and platemaking in my own space. I also print small plates in my own studio, but printing anything larger than A5 can be a logistical challenge. I also belong to Turning Earth Hoxton, which is an open-access ceramics studio. My shelf there is crammed with printing-on-clay experiments at various stages.
Describe a typical day in your studio.
I don’t really have a typical day. I also work part-time as a freelance translator (I translate texts from Norwegian to English, mostly for museums and art galleries), so I juggle studio time with translating. This may be partly why I don’t do much digital artwork – I like to get away from the screen when I’m not translating.
How long have you been printmaking?
I remember making a linocut of the Tower of London for a school project when I was nine. It was difficult because the tools were blunt and the lino was hard, but inking the block and seeing the result was very exciting. So I’ve been printmaking for a very long time.
What inspires you?
I’m a bit of a magpie, but some enduring sources of inspiration are birds, fish and reptiles (real and imaginary); motheaten taxidermied mammals in museums; folk art; and mediaeval art. During lockdown, I signed up to an online art history course about beasts and monsters of the Apocalypse. I found it a bit heavy going (naively, I hadn’t reckoned with having to study the Book of Revelation), but though it I discovered the Silos Apocalypse, a 12-century Spanish manuscript in the British Library, which is currently a big source of inspiration.
What is your favourite printmaking product?
Not exactly a product, but my favourite pieces of printmaking equipment are two drying racks made by my husband, Rick Yoder. They’re based on the traditional design with marbles and I got to choose the marbles.
What have you made that you are most proud of?
Generally I don’t get particularly attached to my own work – I’m more interested in current and future projects than looking back. But I am proud of a toy theatre that I made from a stone lithograph that was my contribution to the Ghost[ed.] lithography project, coordinated by Nicole Polonsky and Sue Baker-Kenton. It was a challenge to reimagine a print that had been conceived as a flat image as a three-dimensional theatre, but I’m very happy with how it turned out. I made the theatre for A Pollock’s Gallimaufry, a group exhibition I organized with Nicole at Pollock’s Toy Museum (sadly now closed). I think part of the reason that I’m attached to the theatre is that it reminds me of that very successful project.
Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?
I exhibit regularly with East London Printmakers at the Hampstead and Battersea Affordable Art Fairs and the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair. I also exhibit with Printmakers Council and in open exhibitions (when I have work accepted!). I also have work at Hybrid Gallery in Honiton and I am dipping my toe into selling online with a shop on my website.
What will we be seeing from you next?
I’m just starting on a new series of linked mokulito/monoprint and ceramic-transfer prints – expect to see some marine life.
Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?
To slightly paraphrase the saxophonist John Coltrane: Start in the middle.
Caroline will be bringing her Mokulito Printmaking workshop to the Handprinted Studio on Saturday 23rd & Sunday 24th or Monday 25th & Tuesday 26th of September 2023.
To book your space on this exciting new workshop, click here!
To see more of Caroline's work, follow her on Instagram.
]]>The collagraph plate is then varnished and can be printed intaglio or relief. This is our method of creating and printing collagraph plates intaglio.
If you would like to start with something a little quicker that does not require varnishing your plates, try our Easy Cardcut Collagraph project featured earlier on our blog.
Start with a piece of mount board cut to size. Begin choosing and cutting down the pieces to stick on top. We started with some thin cotton. Stick your fabric down with PVA glue. Take care where you paste your glue as areas of PVA will print differently when inked up.
Drizzled PVA glue creates a raised area that can be wiped clean whilst holding ink around the edges.
Use carborundum sprinkled over PVA glue to create a rough texture that holds lots of ink.
Try open weave fabrics such as scrim.
Threads will hold ink too – experiment with gluey threads dropped onto the surface.
Another way of creating a textured collagraph plate is by using filler. Use a palette knife to spread a thin layer of paste onto the block. The edges or the filler will create the most contrast in your print so use them creatively.
Pressing and drawing textures in the block will create more areas for the ink to be held.
Pressing objects and fabrics into the filler will change the texture of the plate.
When your plate is completely dry (this usually takes a couple of hours) it is ready to be varnished. Shellac works very well at protecting and strengthening the plate and making it wipe-able.
Again, allow your plate to dry completely (another few hours) and then you are ready for inking. Prepare your paper by soaking it in a tray of water. We are using a 300gsm paper stock as it needs to be strong enough to be strong when wet and not tear when embossed with the raised areas of the plate.
We are using Hawthorn Stay Open Oil Based Inks mixed with Linseed Reducing Jelly – this reduces the ink to a more workable consistency for intaglio printing. You only need a little linseed jelly to dramatically change the consistency
of the ink. The Dense Black ink that we used is particularly sticky so we used the quantities shown above.
Work the ink into the plate with a stiff brush – a toothbrush works perfectly. Pay particular attention the the areas that you want to hold the ink.
Work the ink into the plate using a piece of scrim. Use the scrim to begin to clean the ink of the mount board ground and any other areas that you want pale.
Use a flat piece of tissue paper to polish the plate, concentrating on the pale areas. Finish by using a clean piece of fabric to clean the edges and any areas that you would like to print as close to white as possible.
When your plate is inked up, place it on the press bed. Use a registration sheet to ensure your print is centred and straight.
Remove your paper from the tray using paper fingers as seen below to keep it clean. Blot between pieces of blotting paper. You want the paper to be damp but not wet. This way it will draw the ink out of the recessed areas of the plate.
Put your paper on top of the plate and through the press. Remove your print to see the result! If the pressure is correct, you should see an embossing on the back of the paper but none of the areas should have pushed all the way through!
If your print is very pale there may not be enough pressure. If your print is too dark and sticky there is too much ink and your plate needs more cleaning before printing.
You will need to re-ink your plate before printing again.
For plates made with filler, ink up and print in the same way.
You can print your plate in different colours by printing a la poupée – using a wad of fabric to ink different parts of the plate separately. You can also use a brush as before, concentrating on each area at a time in your desired colour. The colours will blend a little when cleaning the plate with scrim and tissue.
Clean up the your plates, inking slab and tools with Zest-it – a more environmentally friendly alternative to white spirit.
To make your own collagraph you will need:
Describe your printmaking process.
When I started making lino prints I used SoftCut lino and a wooden spoon to hand burnish them. I then experimented with multi-coloured prints using the jigsaw technique. After a year or so, I upgraded to Pfeil tools and bought a Hawthorn Etching Press. I found that traditional artist lino was more stable when using the press.
As my confidence grew I wanted to make more detailed lino prints. I progressed to multi-block printing, which gave me flexibility with the style of designs I could create.
First I start a design with a sketch based on the photographs I take. I transfer the design to the first lino block. Carve that. Then transfer that design and the required design elements from the sketch onto subsequent blocks. Usually, I carve a separate block for each colour in a print. Each colour is hand printed, leaving each colour to dry before printing the next. I use Hawthorn Stay Open Inks.
Why do I use the multi-block method rather than the reduction method to make multi-coloured linocut prints?
There are several advantages of multi-block lino printing. Multi-block is a less risky method that gives me more flexibility. With the reduction method, if you make a mistake or don’t like how something looks, you can’t go back and print more or change it.
Multi-block allows me to create test prints. This gives me the opportunity to try different colour combinations before printing the final prints onto my printmaking paper. I can also adjust any parts of the lino blocks.
Another benefit is that I can initially print as many as I want to and go back and print more at a later date. I can also print some in one colourway and then change the colour combinations in the future.
How and where did you learn to print?
I’m pretty much self-taught. I first tried lino print at a craft fair in York in 2013. I’ve always liked the style of linocut and thought I’d have a go. I bought a couple of books on stamping and block printing, some Essdee lino tools and SoftCut lino and made it up from there.
Why printmaking?
I’m a maker at heart and I’m at my happiest when I’m making something. I studied fashion design because I liked sewing and went into a career in fashion and homeware design. This included a lot of surface pattern design and colour work. I’ve always loved the style of linocut, mid-century designs and vintage railway posters, so once I’d left the corporate world behind it was time to get back to my roots.
Where do you work?
I work from my home studio which overlooks my garden. I love working to the sound of bird songs. It’s an inspiring light-filled space.
Describe a typical day in your studio.
It varies. I tend to block my time. First, I like to get on top of my emails and any support needed for my online courses. If I’m carving lino, I put aside a couple of hours with a good audiobook. For printing, I block out the whole day. Once it’s going well and all my inky mess is out I don’t want to stop! On other days I can be teaching a workshop all day.
How long have you been printmaking?
I’ve been printmaking for about 7 years. I spent 25 years working as a commercial designer but I didn’t have the creative headspace to develop my own creative work and style until I set up my own graphic design business in 2016. I joined York Printmakers, feeling a bit of a fraud as I’d only made a few prints. The group were having their first exhibition at a gallery in York. Having nothing to lose, I joined in. Some of my prints sold and things snowballed from there. Now I make my living solely as a printmaker.
What inspires you?
My inspiration comes from landscapes and nature. I love walking and cycling, as well as photography. I like to really get to know a place and learn about the geology and cultural history of it. Walking enables me to see things close up and at a slower pace. Cycling joins the dots of places I’ve walked and often means I can get away from busy places.
York’s a great jumping-off point for the Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors, Yorkshire Coast and Yorkshire Wolds. The Lake District is only two hours away too.
What is your favourite printmaking product?
Just one? I couldn’t make multi-coloured prints without Ternes Burton pins and tabs. They enable me to accurately register each colour I print within one design. I love Hawthorn Stay Open Inks too. They're semi-transparent, so the colours look more organic when printed. In some prints, I layer them to create extra tones.
What have you made that you are most proud of?
I created a series of linocut prints for the National Trust to use on marketing materials for Sutton Hoo.
Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?
I sell my linocut prints in my online shop, galleries and events such as York Open Studios. I teach in-person workshops in my studio and lino print courses online.
What will we be seeing from you next?
I’m planning a new series of linocut prints of the Yorkshire Dales, Yorkshire Coast and Lake District. I have a couple of other projects that I have to keep under wraps for now.
Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?
Enjoy the process of making and creating, rather than putting all your focus on the end result. To start with, keep it simple. Linocut is a very forgiving medium. It sounds odd but I don’t think you have to be very good at drawing. Often the people that come to my lino print workshops that say they can’t draw, create the most successful prints.
To see more from Michelle follow her on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
]]>This blog is part of a series featuring tips and techniques to get you started with aluminium or zinc plate etching. This post will explain how to degrease your plates, and apply hard grounds for the etching process.
We only need to prep one side of the plate, but remove any protective covers from both sides of your metal plate.
Hold the plate in your hand by the edges, but avoid touching the surface of the plate with your fingertips. Rinse your plate under cold running water and apply some CIF Cream to the surface.
With the abrasive side of a clean dish sponge, scrub over the surface of the plate using circular motions.
You will start to see grey suds form. Continually use running water to rinse these away and apply more CIF Cream. Keep working over the surface with circular motions, and rinse out your sponge often. Occasionally rotate the plate in your hand by 90 degrees, so that you can access more of the surface. The whole degreasing part can take up to 10 or 20 minutes, depending on the size of your plate.
To check if your plate is fully degreased, rinse it under the cold tap. If you see the water run-off and avoid parts of the plate, these areas will need to be worked more. The edges and corners of your plate are particularly susceptible to this (like in the image below). Keep scrubbing these resistant areas, rinsing and adding more CIF Cream.
When you see that water is dispersing over the plate surface evenly, place your plate (worked side facing up) onto a clean absorbent surface, such as newsprint or a towel.
Switch on your hotplate and allow it to heat up to a medium heat. We’re using a teppanyaki grill which is a cheaper alternative to a professional grade hotplate. When your hot plate has reached temperature, carry your degreased plate over (remember not to touch the surface!) and place it onto the hotplate. Allow any remaining water on the plate surface to evaporate.
When all water has evaporated, draw onto the surface with your hard grounds. It will melt instantly. Just a small amount of grounds is needed – you can add more if required, but take care not to apply too much.
Using your roller, roll out the melted grounds and spread it across the plate surface, so that it’s even coated – not too thin and not to thick. If you need to, use your wooden sticks (such as chop sticks, BBQ skewers or lollipop sticks) to rotate the plate 90 degrees to access more of the surface.
When your plate is coated, switch off the hotplate and allow it to cool down. Using wooden sticks, carefully lift your plate away from the hotplate, and place down onto newsprint to cool down.
When your plate is cool enough to touch, you can use tools to create marks into the grounds, exposing the surface of the plate for the etching process. We’ll have more about this in another blog post soon!
Other Tips
For this project, you will need:
CIF Cream or other degreaser
A clean scouring dish sponge
A Teppanyaki Grill or Hotplate
Wooden Sticks (such as chop sticks, BBQ skewers or lollipop sticks)