Meet the Maker: Chris Long
I am Chris Long, an artist, printmaker, composer and game designer. My academic journey includes a first-class degree in fine art and music from the University of Liverpool, a Master’s degree in music composition from Newcastle University, and the completion of a PhD at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. 
Describe your printmaking process.
I focus mainly on carborundum and collagraph, but I also mix in relief printing at times. I work quickly and often reuse plates, printing wet on wet. I make many plates and then reuse them, combining them in different ways.
There are two parts to printmaking: the technical aspects of making plates and getting them to do what you want, especially in collagraph, and then there is the aesthetic result. For me, technique is always secondary to the overall result. This may sound obvious, but I think printmaking can often become about technique rather than final aesthetic. 
How and where did you learn to print?
I happened upon printing as a natural development of mixed media work I was developing. I had used lino prints in large-scale collages and mixed media painting. As a student, I was also advised to try collagraph but never had any guidance on how to do this and, in pre-internet times, I improvised.
I created blocks using mountboard coated in a layer of candle wax, into which I carved and embedded various textures and objects. I then used oil paint as ink and printed by hand. Since returning to my visual work, I can afford ink, a press and various surface media, but those early collagraphs stayed with me and I now almost exclusively work with more experimental techniques. 
Why printmaking?
For me, printmaking is construction, making and improvisation, at the heart of which is the printing press. I explore imagery through intaglio collagraph, drypoint and carborundum plate-making techniques. I improvise, layer, construct and vary, exploring the space between predetermination and chance.
I am also a composer, and musical composition is about developing motifs, themes, patterns and structures. My printmaking is a natural reflection of this. I reuse plates, overlap, rotate, and I am interested in layers. This is all achievable in painting, but not with the speed and dynamics that printmaking allows.
Then there is the political history of the medium, and its place in the fine art world, which really resonates with my own values. 
Where do you work?
In my garage. 
Describe a typical day in your studio.
At the moment, I am working to illustrate a board game I have designed, so my creative process has revolved around creating prints for that over the past year. I work as a full-time teacher, so a day in the studio is usually at the weekend.
It often starts with a tidy-up, paper cutting, and catching up on printing orders, or packaging and a trip to the post office. This then saves the rest of my time for working on new ideas. 
How long have you been printmaking?
I used print as a student as part of my final shows and have revisited it regularly, but I have really focused on collagraph for the past four years. 
What inspires you?
I am inspired by anything I see: any juxtaposition of colour, pattern, shape and texture. I am also inspired by a sense of place, weather and light, whether urban or in nature. And, as with my music, I create for people. I want people to find a connection with my work. 
What is your favourite printmaking product?
What have you made that you are most proud of?
The prints that won first place at the Kazanlak International Mini Print Open, and the current series of prints for the board game I am illustrating. It has been a real challenge to adapt collagraph to this purpose. I have a tendency to work in abstraction, so using it for illustrative purposes has given a really interesting offshoot to what I usually do.
Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?
I usually exhibit in mini print opens, the RA Small But Mighty exhibition, Southbank Printmakers, as well as international exhibitions. I often have work on display in Leamington, which is where I live. I sell online through Shopify and Etsy, and I also have Instagram accounts that I update regularly. In May, I will be launching the board game project to the UK Games Expo at the NEC, where I will have prints and a gallery area running alongside demos of the board game. 
What will we be seeing from you next?
My big project at the moment is bringing my printmaking together with my board game design under the publishing company Brass Fox Games. This is unusual in the board games industry, which is dominated by computer vector illustration or Procreate artwork. There are no other analogue print illustrators working in the industry, so the game acts both as a platform for my printmaking and as a board game that aligns itself differently. 
Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?
Read books on printmaking, but don’t always follow their advice. There are lots of “how-to” books and guides. My advice is to break the rules and experiment, and find your own approach. Printmaking is as dynamic a process as you choose to make it. 
To see more from Chris, follow him on Instagram: @chrislong_prints and @brassfoxstudios