INTRODUCTION ITO ETCHING ON ALUMINIUM PLATE

Come and experience this one-day workshop that will introduce you to the exciting, and safer, range of materials and techniques made available through etching with copper sulphate.

Although you will use some traditional materials and processes to make your plates, many of the methods you will experiment with cannot be created by using traditional, acid based etching techniques.

You will be introduced to all stages of the etching process, from drawing and etching your plate in texture, line, and tone, to printing in colour onto different papers and materials.

By the end of the workshop, you will understand how to develop your own creative ideas through etching; have gained some technical competence in the use of etching tools and practiced how to ink and print successfully.

Upon completion of the Workshop, you will have enough experience to continue experimenting with etching through the Open Access facility available at Iron Press.    

EXPLORING COLLAGRAPH

Making collagraphs is an extremely popular type of printmaking because it has flexible, experimental techniques from which unpredictable and spectacular results are regularly produced.                                                                               Collagraph prints are essentially printed collages made from any thin or flat material like wallpaper, fabric, or textured surfaces like leaves.  The collaged images can be printed in relief, printed from the recesses (intaglio) and may also be printed as embossed images without colour.

The workshop will teach how to make and print collagraph plates.

 Because collagraph techniques are always experimental and exciting to work with, the workshop is suitable for everyone, whether experienced printmakers or beginners. 

Upon completion of the Workshop, you will have enough experience to continue experimenting with collagraphs through the Open Access program available at Iron Press.

PRINTING PAPER SHAPES IN COLOUR COMPOSITIONS

 This is one of the new workshops from Iron Press.

During the workshop the primary focus will be on working with shape and colour.

You will explore design and composition, using different ways to build dynamic images. Emphasis will be placed on overprinting onto a variety of papers using texture and different densities of ink.

Using stencils is a well-established art form with all manner of applications – from graffiti art to commercial packaging, making labels and writing words on a range of surfaces. Exploring stencils will provide your compositions with some surprises.

DRYPOINT

Drypoint is the simplest and most direct of the intaglio (incised) printing techniques. It is an excellent way for beginners to create their images, as no acids or complex procedures are involved in making the plate.

Using any sharp point or abrasive tools, marks and lines are scratched onto a sheet material, like plastic or soft metal; the grooves are then filled with ink and printed on an etching press.

Because the image is scratched directly onto the plate, it accommodates both a high level of illustrative detail as well as spontaneous, gestural mark making. 

During the workshop you will work on clear plastic plates and be shown inking techniques particular to Drypoint.

LINO CUTTING

During the workshop you will design, cut, and print your own linocut.

You will be shown examples of linocut plates and prints that use different cutting techniques and be given a demonstration in preparing your design and cutting your image.

Once you have finished cutting your design, you will complete each Linocut byprinting on a Victorian, Albion Press.

The initial printing is straightforward, very exciting and always great fun. The next stage allows you to explore printing onto different papers and surfaces.

Upon completion of the Workshop, you will have enough experience to continue experimenting with Lino-cutting through Open Access, available at Iron Press on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

EXPRESSIONIST WOODCUTTING - RAW AND RUGGED

 In the early twentieth century the artists we label as Expressionists had a strong connection with printmaking, particularly the adoption of the woodcut as a primary artistic medium. It was used particularly by a German artistic collective called Die Brücke. Artists included, Max Beckmann, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Kathe Kollwitz, Franz Marc, and many more artists. Its visual vocabulary used distorted, stylized forms reflecting a direct visualisation of feelings and emotional subjects.

 During the workshop you will have the opportunity to use wood as a vehicle of expression. This may include distressed surfaces, using broken and damaged panels, or selecting wood that is heavily grained. Coupled with your visual ideas, creating the printing blocks will be challenging, experimental and highly informative.

 The workshop will focus on how ‘Expression’ is created through a variety of methods and materials, as well as ideas, feelings and gestural marks.

The workshop will recognise the spirit and principles of the German Expressionists by attempting to make images as simple and personal as possible.

You will use simplified forms and the medium's potential for bold, flat patterns and rough woodcutting effects.

During the workshop you will ‘Express’ your ideas through tapping into your inner response to the visual information you have collected.

Central to success will be the sense of bringing your own interpretation to subjects in an abstracted or exaggerated way. A key element is the sense of creative freedom this brings to your work.

Exaggeration was a key element in Expressionism. 

MONOTYPE IN COLOUR - USING SEVERAL PLATES

Monotype printing covers a wide range of activities in different printmaking disciplines.

It is one of the most flexible printing methods, allowing you to work with drawing, painting, stencilling and transfers in an experimental and direct way.  

The essential point of this method is that no two prints are alike. Although images can be similar, editioning is not possible and each work you produce is unique.

If you enjoy experimenting and playing creatively with ink and paper – monotype printing is a great way to explore your creativity.

 In painterly monotype, using multiple plates, you will be shown several mark making techniques and introduced to some of the wonderful effects of overprinting in colour.

Multiple plates allows more predictable design results as each plate is transparent and can indicate what the colours will look like when printed.

BEGINNERS COURSEWORK

Here are some of the images from the Six Week Course for Beginners.

The work produced during the first, post-lockdown, Beginners Course has been a happy and creative success and the feedback has been completely positive.

It is a reminder of how wonderfully different printmaking techniques can stimulate creativity and encourage people to experiment and explore their own visual ideas.

PAINTERLY MONOTYPE

Monotype printing covers a wide range of activities in different printmaking disciplines.

It is one of the most flexible printing methods, allowing you to work with drawing, painting, stenciling and transfers in an experimental and direct way.  

The essential point of this method is that no two prints are alike. Although images can be similar, editioning is not possible and each work you produce is unique.

If you enjoy experimenting and playing creatively with ink and paper – monotype printing is a great way to explore your creativity.

In painterly monotype and mono printing, you will be shown several mark -making techniques and introduced to some of the wonderful effects of overprinting in tone and colour.

ETCHING ON COPPER

During the workshop you will be using ferric chloride to etch the copper.

You will have the choice of etching your image A6 or A5 in scale.

Initially you will be working in line on a hard ground. It is the fine, sharp quality of the line in copper etching which makes images so distinct and superior to using most other metals.

There may be the opportunity to work in tone, depending on time.

 Etching copper in line with ferric chloride is much slower and safer than etching with nitric acid, which was commonly used in art studios until recent times.

DRYPOINT FROM A MODEL

The tradition of working from the nude model has a long history and is perhaps most familiar to the public through the drypoints of Rembrandt and Whistler.

Many artists explore making images and ideas through drypoint. When combined with working directly from the model, very exciting and unexpected results can happen.

During this workshop you will have the opportunity to explore drawing directly onto metal or clear plastic plate. Alternatively you can trace some of your sketches and drawing and make expressive interpretations of these as you scribe the plates.

The workshop will give you the opportunity to experiment with materials, images and techniques; allow you to explore mark-making using line and tone; assist you in printing your drypoints and hopefully extend your visual language.

How you approach the work is up to you. The workshop will not be based on an academic approach, but rather an experimental one that allows you to respond to the model in your own way. You can choose to work in abstract ways as well as more structured, measured ways.

By the end of this exciting and challenging workshop, you will have made a number of plates and have printed a range of images.

This workshop is suitable for beginners as well as experienced printmakers.

JAPANESE STYLE WOODCUTTING - ONE DAY MOKUHANGA WORKSHOP FOR BEGINNERS

 Although similar to woodcut in Western printmaking , you will be emulating the technique of Mokuhanga.

 Mokuhanga is the Japanese word for wood block print. In Japan its meaning is the print itself, but in general contemporary use it means both the print and the technique.

 The technique involves using water-based colours like watercolour or gouache—as opposed to the western woodcut technique, which mainly uses oil-based inks.

The watercolours provide a wide range of vivid colours to explore with your images.

 During the workshop you will have the opportunity to cut and print at least two images, each printed with several colours depending on the design.

You will use easy to cut plywood which is ideally structured for this technique.

ETCHING WITH LINE WORK AND SPIT BITE

 This is a new workshop because many people have expressed interest in learning about etching with spit bite.

During the workshop you will create images in Line using a hard ground resist - a traditional technique.

Once you have these, you will explore working with different strengths of etchant to create tone and atmosphere.

This too is a traditional technique and still in common use. Unlike traditional etching where the plate is immersed in a bath of etching solution, the Spit Bite method allows the printmaker to paint a strong solution of the etching solution directly onto selected areas of the plate.

 In general, this produces a much softer, more delicate range of marks.

Norman Ackroyd is a professional etcher and exponent of spit bite.

WORKING FROM THE LIFE MODEL IN DRYPOINT AND MONOTYPE

The tradition of making etchings from the nude model has a long history and is perhaps most familiar to the public through the etchings if Rembrandt.

During this workshop you will have the opportunity to explore drawing directly on to plastic plates in response to the life model. This is both exciting and challenging because working from ‘life’ is somewhat scary for most people.

The workshop will give you the opportunity to try out a range of techniques; allow you to explore mark-making using line and tone; let you etch and print the drawings you make and through this extend your visual language.

How you approach the work is up to you as there will be no directions, which must be followed. You can choose to work in very expressive, experimental ways as well as more structured, measured ways.

By the end of the day, you will have combined your drawings with a number of etching techniques.

LINO CUTTING WITH PRINTING ON COLLAGE

A one–day workshops where you will design, cut, and print your own linocut.

You will see examples of linocut plates and prints that use different cutting techniques and be given a demonstration in preparing your design and cutting the image.

You will also have the opportunity to print your image onto a range of other materials, collaged onto your receiver paper – this could include, commercially printed images from magazines and newspapers, decorative papers, wallpaper and even bits of discarded drawings.

Finally, you will complete each image by printing your linocut on a Victorian, Albion Press. This is simple, very exciting and always great fun.

Upon completion of the Workshop, you will understand some of the basic design aspects of  Lino cutting and have gained enough experience to continue experimenting through the Open Access facility available at Iron Press.

WOOD ENGRAVING, CUTTING AND PRINTING METHODS

Wood engraving is at once the simplest and one of the most exquisite forms of printmaking. The print is made, first, by engraving the reversed design or picture to be printed into the mirror-smooth surface of a block of end grain wood. Boxwood is best, though cheaper alternatives such as lemonwood and synthetic materials are now frequently used.

Secondly, the block is rolled up with ink (on its top surface) and printed onto paper. The cuts that were made into the wood therefore come out as white, the remaining top surface which gets inked, as black; the artist is, in effect, drawing with light – with a white mark as opposed to the black mark that comes from a pencil, brush or pen.

Most wood engravings tend to be closely worked and relatively small because the tools used are finely pointed. Because the finesse of wood engraving produces a particularly rich tonal range, wood engravings are usually, but by no means exclusively, black, and white.

It is part of its nature that many prints can be taken from the block once it is engraved, but each of those prints is an original – made by that process, not copied.

PLAYING WITH WOODEN TYPE, WORDS AND IMAGES

 This is a new workshop aimed at exploring the combination of words, images, and letter forms in both figurative and abstract compositions.

 You will explore a range of visual compositions using wooden type, photographs from newspapers and magazines, colour from various sources and industrial printing blocks. Handwriting and personal drawings can also be included in your compositions.

 We are surrounded by the combination of words and images through a vast range of media.

Using this as a source material had a major impact on art in the 20th century – Warhol,

Switters, POP Art, Lichtenstein etc.

During the workshop you will experiment with a wide range of materials and construct compositions of personal expression, colour and form.

The work will be experimental and not conform to any pre determined methodology.

CARBORUNDUM - RICH COLOUR AND DESIGN

Carborundum is a printing technique that uses powder and other gritty materials to create areas of rich tone and texture. Using carborundum will allow you to experiment with expressive mark making, print using rich colour and let you explore a wealth of textured surfaces and materials.                                                                                                         

The workshop will teach how to prepare and make plates using only carborundum powder, and how to ink and print in colour.

You will explore making carborundum plates on different surfaces and explore the differences that scale, grit application and density of colour produces.

Because carborundum techniques are always experimental and exciting to work with, the workshop is suitable for everyone, whether experienced printmakers or beginners. 

Upon completion of this course you will have enough printing experience to be able to continue to experiment on your own in Open Access.   

JAPANESE STYLE WOODCUTTING - TWO DAY MOKUHANGA WORKSHOP FOR INTERMEDIATE LEVEL

Although similar to woodcut in Western printmaking , you will be emulating the technique of Mokuhanga.

Mokuhanga is the Japanese word for wood block print. In Japan its meaning is the print itself, but in general contemporary use it means both the print and the technique.

The technique involves using water-based colours like watercolour or gouache—as opposed to the western woodcut technique, which mainly uses oil-based inks.

The watercolours provide a wide range of vivid colours to explore with your images.

During this two-day workshop you will develop both your cutting technique and a more involved design development.

More time will be spent exploring your master block and colour layers.

EXPERIMENTAL DRYPOINT

This is a very exciting and experimental workshop working on A3 sheets of clear plastic.

You will use a variety of tools to make your marks -some of which you may bring from home. Anything that can be used to scribe, scratch, or make interesting marks - bring it along.

You will be able to work in a purely abstract way or combine figurative and abstract by tracing and scribing images from newspapers, magazines, sketchbooks and photographs.

Bring some ideas about composition - but remember it is experimental, so you do not need to be bound by initial ideas.

You will be able to work on a range of scales - up to A3 so you will have a chance to be bold and intuitive in your mark making and creating unexpected compositions.

PHOTO ETCHING TECHNIQUES

Photo etching is an exciting and fascinating technique that allows drawings and collages to be made into high-quality intaglio prints. The process can be used on its own or in conjunction with traditional etching or other printmaking methods and is a valuable additional skill for experienced printmakers.

 During the workshop you will create stencils using several techniques. These will include, hand-drawn images, experimental drawing and mark-making techniques, photographic images, and you will learn how to transfer these into etchings, using photopolymer plates and film.