Relief Tester & Refresher (Sept 2017)

Relief printmaking (also known as block printing) is a graphic and versatile form of printmaking that dates as far back as 500 BC. Similar to stamping, images are carved in reverse onto a block that is then inked and sent through a press.

Beginning with a graphic image, a motif, festive patterns and stylized hand lettering, students will learn how to visualize and create a design and that will work well as a print. In the first three hours of the workshop, students will complete this simple small-scale project, moving through each step of the relief process from image transfer to carving to printing. In the last two hours, students new to the medium are welcome to stay and create additional prints of their image. Students with prior intermediate experience are encouraged to use the last hours to address questions related to setting up the press, multiple plate registration, planning more complex plates, even and consistent inking, etc.

This workshop is designed to let people test out a new craft or refresh skills from a prior class. Students who want to learn the full range of what relief can do should enroll in our 8-week Relief Printmaking class.

Papermaking (Sept 2017)

Papermaking can be used as a catalyst for bookmaking, printmaking and drawing, as well as an art form all in its own. During this workshop, participants will learn to make unique handmade paper sheets using pulp made with both natural fibers and recycled paper. After forming basic sheets of paper with a mould and deckle, students can explore paper texture, stenciling, and debossing through couching their sheets on various surfaces.

Everyone will be able to customize their project by adding “inclusions” to their sheets like scraps from prints, photographs, drawings, petals, or thread.

Are you a printmaker? Relief printmaking plates can even be used to emboss paper and push the sculptural element of papermaking!

Everyone will leave the workshop with a set of 5+ sheets of handmade paper and a foundation in low-tech non-toxic papermaking that is infinitely expandable and requires limited access to special facilities, and can be incorporated into classroom settings.

This is a wet process, so dress down for this workshop. Please bring along scrap prints, old printmaking plates, clippings, etc. to experiment with.

Relief Printmaking (Sept 2017)

Relief printmaking is a graphic and versatile type of printmaking that dates as far back as 500 BC. An image is carved in reverse onto a block, which is then inked and sent through a press. The tools are basic but the possibilities are expansive.

Relief Printmaking empowers students (both first-time printmakers and experienced printmakers) to plan, carve, and print relief blocks. After looking at lots of examples, both historical and contemporary, students will begin their relief printing adventure with a playful low-pressure “Speedy-Cut” block. Throughout the class, students will move on to carving both linoleum and wood with a variety of carving techniques that exploit line, shape, contrast, and texture.

On the press, students will learn how to mix ink, handle paper, register multiple colors, and finesse pressure to produce a set of prints that employ lessons from throughout the class.

Do you want to try out relief printmaking before signing up for the full class? Our Relief Tester & Refresher is happening on Sunday, September 24.

Screenprinting Explorations (Wednesday Morning Session)

Most people are fans of screenprinting whether they know it or not. Screenprinting is an art form known for its bold graphics and versatility. A close cousin of stenciling, screenprinting is easy to learn, yet hard to master. Our eight-week class provides adequate time for new printers to complete a range of projects on paper and fabric, gradually increasing in complexity and nuance. With the ongoing support of a pro to help trouble-shoot along the way, students will be familiar with dark room exposure, mesh count, screen tension, ink consistency, and registration.

In addition to developing A+ printing skills, this class will help students develop their imagery, be it hand-drawn illustration or digital files, to successfully translate to print. By the end of the class, students will know their way around the print shop, and be well equipped to continue printing independently at Spudnik Press Cooperative.

Letterpress I: Wood and Metal Type (Oct 2017)

Letterpress printing has been making quite an impression since about 1440 when Johannes Gutenberg invented movable type. A mechanical press prints from type, either cast from metal or carved from wood, to crisply transfer ink to paper. Letterpress printing creates a tactile and inviting debossment in the paper. This “punch” makes this art form a popular choice for greeting cards, business cards, invitations, broadsides, and a wide range of printed ephemera.

While letterpress printing began as a commercial process, today artists, designers, typographers and illustrators are continually finding new ways to approach the art form. Letterpress I: Wood & Metal Type uses a range of projects to familiarize students with letterpress printing, typography and the history of the art form.

Spudnik Press Cooperative houses over 120 drawers of type, two Vandercook presses, a Line-o-scribe proofing press, and three platen presses, all of which are available for students to use.

Students will jump in on day one by browsing Spudnik’s unique collection of type and using a composing stick to hand set their first line of type. From there, projects will increase in scope to introduce more advanced project planning, technical considerations and creative approaches to printing. Students will learn new fun vocabulary words like reglets, quoins, chases, and leading. After setting type, students will become acquainted with our printing presses and learn to lock-up type, set pressure, mix and modify ink and safely operate the machines.

Throughout the class students will acquire the technical skills needed to be authorized to printing independently at Spudnik Press and the creative skills to produce inventive and alluring prints for years to come.

Etching Tester & Refresher (Oct 2017)

Etching (a type of Intaglio printing) is printmaking process in which marks are scratched or etched into a metal plate. Using a fine point needle, artists can draw directly on plate through a thin protective ground to expose copper. With the help of a chemical bath, these marks are etched into the metal with a remarkable amount of detail. Etchings can look similar to pen and ink drawings but can also capture a vast array of marks and tones. Artists can work with great precision or work expressively and spontaneously.

In the first three hours of the workshop, students will complete a simple small-scale project, moving through each step of the etching process from plate preparation through printing. In the last two hours, students new to the medium are welcome to stay and create additional prints of their image. Students with prior intermediate experience are encouraged to use the last hours to address questions related to setting up the press, soft ground, step etching, etc.

This workshop is designed to let people test out a new craft or refresh skills from a prior class. Students who want to learn the full range of what etching can do should enroll in our 8-week Etching & Intaglio Printmaking class.

Etching & Intaglio Printmaking (Oct 2017)

Intaglio Printmaking is a family of printing techniques in which marks are incised into a metal plate. Using a fine point needle and various other tools, drawings and images are transferred through a thin protective ground to expose copper. With the help of a chemical bath, marks and images are etched into the metal with a remarkable amount of detail.

Working more spontaneously, artists can also scratch images directly on the plate, transfer textures onto the plate, or paint directly on their plates with resists and mordents.

Beginning with basic line etching, students will learn and practice traditional plate making and printing processes. Through chine collé, aquatint, dry point, soft ground, and experimentation, student will add tonality, color, and varied marks to their images. No prior printing experience is needed, and students who do have intaglio experience can revisit the foundational skills with a more nuanced understanding of the process, and move on to independent projects.

Do you want to try out etching before signing up for the full class? Our Etching Tester & Refresher is happening on Sunday, October 15.

Printing for Poets: Chapbooks & Movable Type (October 2017)

Explore the wide world of independent publishing through this hands-on workshop that brings together writing, letterpress printing, and bookbinding.

Working with the unique aesthetics of letterpress printing, as well as the constraints of this art form, students will be exposed to new ways to think about writing. As both a writing workshop as well as small press incubator, this session is especially useful for writers and poets who want to enhance their hand skills or are considering various approaches to distributing their writing.

Taking advantage of the tools and resources available at Spudnik Press, students will learn about metal type, typesetting, composition, paper handling, and simple binding structures. By the end of the day, students will have created from start-to-finish a collaborative chapbook and will have a solid understanding of the tasks involved in printing. Visual arts experience is not required.

Screenprinting Refresher (Oct 2017)

Open to anyone with prior printing experience, this refresher workshop will assume that students understand screenprinting and have previous experience, but are feeling out-of-practice or fuzzy regarding the finer points of the process. Students should have already completed a one-day workshop or full class, although it need not have been at Spudnik, or in the recent past. We also welcome printers that would like support working through a particularly complex project or reoccurring printing issue.

Spudnik Press staff will review an assortment of skills such as: selecting the best mesh count, applying the perfect coat of photo emulsion, troubleshooting and diagnosing exposure and printing issues, ink mixing, registration, and screen reclamation. Equally as importantly, we will address how to consider these technical factors and limitations when designing a project for printing.

During the workshops, each student will expose a screen, and work with peers to print a two-color image designed to hone nuanced printing skills. Students are welcome to bring specific questions about their next project for an on-the-spot consultation.

To help build printing confidence at Open Studio sessions, students are invited to return within the week (free of charge!) to put their freshly acquired knowledge to use. Through this workshop, students will not only brush up on old skills and become authorized to print at Spudnik, but are sure to walk away with new morsels of useful information regarding the art of screenprinting.

Bookbinding (Oct 2017)

Bookbinding is an art form that combines fine craftsmanship with a basic set of techniques, tools and materials. Once foundational skills are mastered, bookbinders can add creativity, content, and design to create unlimited variations of handmade books. In this class, students will create their own books from scratch, and will even be able to design their own paste paper covers and endpapers! Students will learn pamphlet, “perfect”, coptic, and stab bindings, as well as modifications of these traditional binding styles.

Projects will focus on creativity, design, and craftsmanship with the goal that students are able to experiment with variations and incorporating content within the book through writing, simple printing tricks, and customizing paper for covers, inserts, or end-paper. Students will leave with a small library of hand-bound books to fill or use as templates to make even more books.

Screenprinting Explorations (Oct 2017)

Most people are fans of screenprinting whether they know it or not. Screenprinting is an art form known for its bold graphics and versatility. A close cousin of stenciling, screenprinting is easy to learn, yet hard to master. Our eight-week class provides adequate time for new printers to complete a range of projects on paper and fabric, gradually increasing in complexity and nuance. With the ongoing support of a pro to help trouble-shoot along the way, students will be familiar with dark room exposure, mesh count, screen tension, ink consistency, and registration.

In addition to developing A+ printing skills, this class will help students develop their imagery, be it hand-drawn illustration or digital files, to successfully translate to print. By the end of the class, students will know their way around the print shop, and be well equipped to continue printing independently at Spudnik Press Cooperative.

Risography 101 (Oct 2017)

A Risograph is an automated duplicator from Japan that efficiently produces offset-like photocopies. Though not originally intended for artistic application, the machine has recently gained traction (and notoriety) in small-press culture for its distinct footprint and efficiently as well as being rather finicky.

This workshop will walk students through the fundamentals of Risograph printing for making books and fine art prints, and familiarize students with techniques to best reproduce their imagery. Students will become acquainted with the mechanics of the printer and learn basic maintenance, including how to change the master roll and a drum’s ink tube. Lastly, students will learn how to best design for the Risograph, taking into consideration ink drying time, ink density, paper options, registration, and patience. Everyone will leave with a three-color collaborative print produced throughout the workshop and authorization to continue making Risograph prints at Spudnik Press Cooperative.