Posts Categorized: Category

Risography 101 (8/15/21)

The Risograph is an automated duplicator from Japan that efficiently produces offset-like prints in a variety of saturated colors. 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 the best design techniques for risograph printing, taking into consideration: ink drying time, ink density, paper options, registration, and patience. Everyone will leave with an individually designed two-layer print.

Students will receive risography authorization and are encouraged to use Open Studio shortly after taking the workshop in order to help solidify their understanding of the machine.

Please note: Each student will have a dedicated work station and enrollment is limited to 3 students to ensure social distancing. Students will be expected to disinfect shared resources after use and follow all our Covid-related safety precautions. The class fees cover tuition as well as consumable studio supplies.

T-shirts & Totebags Screenprinting Workshop (08/16/2021)

Convert your own drawing or design to a collection of hand-printed wearable items in this energetic and informative one-day workshop. Printing an assortment of t-shirts or tote bags is practical, fun and incredibly gratifying!

Students should come to the workshops with a bold black and white drawing, a high-contrast photo, or a digital design.While .AI or .PSD files are great, we also welcome students to bring anything text typed through Microsoft Word or photocopied. After students refine the artwork (as needed) to be“print-ready”, student will use a pre-coated photographic screen and mix their own custom ink color. Everyone should bring five items of their choosing to print. As long as they are fabric and flat, we can help you print on it! Shirts, tote bags, tea towels, bandanas, and thrift store jean jackets will all work great. Leave with a sample for an Etsy store, a surprise gift for a friend, or an eco-friendly alternative to plastic bags!

Please note: Each student will have a dedicated work station and enrollment is limited to 3 students to ensure social distancing. Students will be expected to disinfect shared resources after use and follow all our Covid-related safety precautions.The class fees cover tuition as well as consumable studio supplies.

Bookbinding Workshop: Simple Self-Publishing (08/18/2021)

This workshop focuses on styles of bookbinding that are low-cost yet dynamic, and well suited for poetry chapbooks and portfolio books. Students will earn how to choose materials and create simple book structures that best highlight the content within their book.

The workshop will address the logistics of organizing poetry or artwork into a book form, explore the book as a vessel for information, and how material choices can inform how the book is read. While the workshop will create blank books, each style of binding will begin with standard 8.5” x 11” paper to allow your poetry or artistic content to be easily printed from a common inkjet or laser printer.

Students will complete four sample books: Two pamphlet stitch varieties, a perfect bound book, and a more elaborate Japanese stab binding.

In addition to learning hand skills, the class will discuss the history of chapbooks, their role in publishing over time, and ways to share and sell chapbooks. If you have writing or images you would like to promote, this is a great workshop to jump start your self-publishing!

Please note: Each student will have a dedicated work station and enrollment is limited to 5 students to ensure social distancing. Students will be expected to disinfect shared resources after use and follow all our Covid-related safety precautions. The class fees cover tuition as well as consumable studio supplies.

Bookbinding Workshop: No-Sew Books (8/22/21)

This class is the perfect introduction to bookbinding. Students will learn the basic vocabulary and tools of bookbinding as well as the core skills needed to recreate a variety of book structures on their own. The workshop will address various ways to cut and fold paper to make an economical book from a single sheet of paper. A secondary glue-less binding that will be introduced is the concertina book–a basic structure with endless variations. Students will learn to use a guillotine to cut book pages and a nipping press to flatten and add a professional touch to their books. This workshop is great for people who create comics, poetry, prose, enjoy journaling, or would like to add a narrative or sculptural element to their prints.

Students will receive an Advanced Guillotine authorization during this workshop.

Please note: Each student will have a dedicated work station and enrollment is limited to 3 students to ensure social distancing. Students will be expected to disinfect shared resources after use and follow all our Covid-related safety precautions. The class fees cover tuition as well as consumable studio supplies.

  • Monoprint sample by Rebecca Wolsten

Experimental Monotypes: Painterly Graphics

Monotype printing is an instantly gratifying and playful technique that is well suited to first time printers and artists who typically work with paint, mixed media, sculpture or collage. This three-week class explores a monotype printmaking process that uses watercolors, oil-based ink and stencils on plexiglass plates to produce a wide range of aesthetics. Through learning about the properties of water and oil-based materials, paper, pressure and how all these things interact together, students can make a wide array of unique prints.

Each week, the class will dive into new and innovative monotype techniques that focus on positive and negative space. This combination of materials and approaches will allow students to pair soft textures and marks with saturated and hard edge imagery. This class is perfect for those who enjoy working with graphic marks, a painterly visual language, or a combination of both. Students should come with ideas for a series of prints while being ready to explore and experiment.

Students will receive a Conrad Press authorization during this class.

Please note: Each student will have a dedicated work station and enrollment is limited to 3 students to ensure social distancing. Students will be expected to disinfect shared resources after use and follow all our Covid-related safety precautions. The class fees cover tuition as well as consumable studio supplies.

Risography 101 (8/25/21)

The Risograph is an automated duplicator from Japan that efficiently produces offset-like prints in a variety of saturated colors. 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 the best design techniques for risograph printing, taking into consideration: ink drying time, ink density, paper options, registration, and patience. Everyone will leave with an individually designed two-layer print.

Students will receive risography authorization and are encouraged to use Open Studio shortly after taking the workshop in order to help solidify their understanding of the machine.

Please note: Each student will have a dedicated work station and enrollment is limited to 3 students to ensure social distancing. Students will be expected to disinfect shared resources after use and follow all our Covid-related safety precautions. The class fees cover tuition as well as consumable studio supplies.

T-shirts & Totebags Screenprinting Workshop (08/30/2021)

Convert your own drawing or design to a collection of hand-printed wearable items in this energetic and informative one-day workshop. Printing an assortment of t-shirts or tote bags is practical, fun and incredibly gratifying!

Students should come to the workshops with a bold black and white drawing, a high-contrast photo, or a digital design.While .AI or .PSD files are great, we also welcome students to bring anything text typed through Microsoft Word or photocopied. After students refine the artwork (as needed) to be “print-ready”, students will use a pre-coated photographic screen and mix their own custom ink color. Everyone should bring five items of their choosing to print. As long as they are fabric and flat, we can help you print on it! Shirts, tote bags, tea towels, bandanas, and thrift store jean jackets will all work great. Leave with a sample for an Etsy store, a surprise gift for a friend, or an eco-friendly alternative to plastic bags!

Please note: Each student will have a dedicated work station and enrollment is limited to 3 students to ensure social distancing. Students will be expected to disinfect shared resources after use and follow all our Covid-related safety precautions.The class fees cover tuition as well as consumable studio supplies.

Private Lessons: Gap Lessons

“Gap Lessons” are designed to support people transitioning from taking classes to using our Open Studio program, and to offer efficient and focused one-on-one support for people embarking on new projects or who need help working through a particular printing issue.

Taught by our in-house staff of skilled printers/artists, these one-hour lessons can help fill in any gaps that have held you back from getting the most out of your time at the studio.

Lessons are often scheduled preceding an Open Studio session to allow students to work with staff for an hour before their full studio session.

Email info@spudnikpress.org to schedule a lesson. Lessons are typically scheduled at least one-two weeks in advance. Instead of enrolling through our website, an online invoice will be sent once a lesson is confirmed. Please include in the email:

  • The specific topic or skill you would like help with
  • Any particular staff you would like to be paired with
  • Availability: days, evenings, weekends, etc.

Please note that gap lessons are not designed to provide authorization, but instead boost your confidence within the studio. Based on the skill or topic you would like to focus on, we may recommend a longer lesson.

Gap lessons are $45 for a 1-hour session. Members of Spudnik receive a discounted rate of $40/hour.