Concepts in Design: Analog to Digital

With printmakers in mind, we have developed a graphic design class that focuses on 1) the elements of design most essential to print production and 2) the common Adobe Photoshop tools needed to prepare and output films. This class is perfect for those who have ever felt some intimidation to working digitally and digitally preparing their artwork for print.

Projects in this class will utilize collaging as a way for students to investigate their personal style and effective communication while practicing composition, space, balance, emphasis, perspective, and text. Additionally, color theory will be investigated through the lens of printmaking by considering how ink and paper interacts, and how to visualize and plan ahead for ink mixing.

Students will become comfortable with the Photoshop tools necessary to create trapping, preview color palettes, print stencils, add halftones, and more essentials for any print process they may want to work in.

Students will use their own computers with Adobe Photoshop. Please email staff prior to registering if you do not have a laptop with this software. This workshop focuses on pre-press design. Students will not be creating prints during the class.

Letterpress Valentines

Celebrate Saint Valentine by impressing your friends, family, and coworkers with a clever hand-printed valentine.

Making your own greeting card is a perfect foray into letterpress printing! Using our vintage collection of letterpress cuts and ornaments in combination with wood and metal type, participants will design and print their own unique statement on up to 20 cards. Students can come with a short phrase in mind, or see what ideas emerge while browsing through our many drawers of plates from the era of letterpress newspapers and ads.

Regardless of how romantic one feels about the holiday, a hand-made card is always a thrill to make and to receive!

Please note that class fees cover tuition as well as many consumable studio supplies and most materials that students will use throughout the class or workshop. Please see student material list for additional supplies.

Risography 102: Bring Your Own Files

Risography 102 reinforces the skills introduced in Riso 101. Each student will bring their own project to set-up and print during the workshop.

Best practices for imposition or layout for zines and publications will be reviewed as well as tips for color separation and digital file set-up. Smart file set up is step #1 to ensure smooth and efficient printing!

Then, through creating a small run of prints during the workshop, students will get a refresher on how to make masters from digital files, how to troubleshoot paper jams and other typical print errors, and how to replenish ink and masters. Lastly, students will have the opportunity to use our guillotines to trim their prints.

This workshop is limited to just four students to ensure that everyone can print their own imagery, log time operating the machine independently, and be authorized to use our guillotines.

Students should come ready with a 2-3 color project–either a single-sided print to be completed in the workshop or a longer project to be finished during open studio. While PDF files are great, students are welcome to bring anything from text typed in Microsoft Word to photocopies.

Please note that class fees cover tuition as well as many consumable studio supplies and most materials that students will use throughout the class or workshop. Please see student material list for additional supplies.

Letterpress Pressure Prints

The process of pressure printing combining stencils and low-relief collages with letterpress printing to make textural images reminiscent of rubbings and collagraphs. Variation in the thickness of cut paper, string, plants, netting and other relatively two-dimensional items effect the amount of ink transferred by the cylinder of the press to the paper and leave a rich nuanced image on the page.

Students will work individually and collectively to create a variety of stencils, then experiment with the stencils, composition and the printing process to tell a story, create a mood, or build an illustration. Students will also be able to experiment with hand inking to create one-of-a-kind compositions. Throughout the workshop, students will create a series of up to 10 multi-layered monotypes as big as 19” x 25”!

For the technically inclined, the class will also address how to adjust cylinder packing and form height to achieve various printed results and to read and use a micrometer. Artists and illustrators who like to work with monoprinting, stencils, or cut paper, will benefit from this class, as well as letterpress printers, both new and experienced.

Please note that class fees cover tuition as well as many consumable studio supplies and most materials that students will use throughout the class or workshop. Please see student material list for additional supplies.

T-Shirts & Tote Bags Screenprinting Workshop

Convert your drawing or design into the highlight of your very own wearable item in this energetic one-day workshop.

Students will bring a bold black and white drawing, high-contrast photo, or digital. While .AI or .PSD files are great, we welcome students to bring anything from text typed in Microsoft Word to photocopies. After students refine their designs with the assistance of a professional teaching artist, students will transfer their image to a pre-coated photographic screen and mix their own custom colors. Everyone should bring five flat, fabric items of their choosing on which to print. Examples of acceptable items include shirts, tote bags, tea towels, bandanas, and even thrift store jean jackets. Leave with a sample for an Etsy store, a surprise gift for a friend, or an eco-friendly tote bag!

For those who love this introduction to screenprinting, our 8-week Screenprinting Explorations class will round out your skills and allow you print independently through our Open Studio program!

This class typically fills 2+ weeks in advance. Early registration is suggested.

Litho Made Easy: Pronto Plate Lithography

This class is an introduction to the process of lithography through the use of polyester plates. This technique is a simplified version of lithography that enables artists to create lithographs without having to master an acid etch.

A great introduction to both lithography and digital type setting, this class will explore how to blend language and image through the process of pronto plate printing. Students can combine hand drawing with digital text, photos, and designs. Pronto plate litho is wonderful way to enjoy the freedom of layering in with planographic printing at a fraction of the cost and toxicity of more traditional methods.

Please note that class fees cover tuition as well as many consumable studio supplies and most materials that students will use throughout the class or workshop. Please see student material list for additional supplies.

Aritst Books: Sequence, Image, & Time

In this course students will explore the process of thinking through experimentation to create an original artist book. Throughout the class students will review several bookbinding structures. The instructor will provide feedback and help students develop narrative, timing, page sequencing, and structure – all vital steps to creating a contemporary artist book. Students will be encouraged to use image making techniques as well as text based content. All students will leave the class with a one of a kind artist book that goes beyond making a blank book. Previous experience in bookbinding, art making, and writing is encouraged but not required.

Please note that class fees cover tuition as well as many consumable studio supplies and most materials that students will use throughout the class or workshop. Please see student material list for additional supplies.

Techniques in Monoprinting

Monoprinting is a form of printmaking that favors organic, gestural, textural, and ephemeral marks and imagery. This process is incredibly immediate, playful, and a multi-faceted type of printmaking, and therefore well suited to first time printers and artists who typically work with paint, mixed media, and sculpture. These prints usually begin from a sheet of plexiglass as the foundation. Through working additively and reductively with ink, crayons, water or solvents, and stencils, students can capture a large range of aesthetics from subtle tonality to gritty textures to minimal formal forms.

Throughout the class, students will develop new ways to build images while learning about the properties of ink, paper, pressure, and how they interact to create a broad range of aesthetic possibilities. Printing techniques will include collage, multiple plate printing, trace, stencil, ghost, additive, and reductive. Students will make many prints to learn and test these processes before moving on to a project that combines various methods and showcases a personal style or vision.

Please note that class fees cover tuition as well as many consumable studio supplies and most materials that students will use throughout the class or workshop. Please see student material list for additional supplies.

Etching & Intaglio Printmaking

Intaglio printmaking is a family of printing techniques developed (in part) by goldsmiths as a way to decorate armor, musical instruments and religious objects. These days, artists use a fine point needle to draw 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.

Artists can also work more spontaneously by scratching gestures and images directly onto plates, transferring textures, or painting directly onto plates with resists and mordents. This highly versatile art form can produce a huge range of aesthetics.

Beginning with basic line etching, students will practice traditional plate making and printing. 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.

Please note that class fees cover tuition as well as many consumable studio supplies and most materials that students will use throughout the class, including three copper plates ($26 value). The basic tools (etching needle, scraper and burnisher) are available to use during class, but students may wish to acquire their own so that they can work outside of class.

Risography 101

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 look 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 ink. 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.

While students gain authorization to continue making risograph prints at Spudnik Press Cooperative, attendees are encouraged to round out their riso know-how by taking a Risography 102 workshop and/or returning to use Open Studio shortly after taking the workshop.

Please note that class fees cover tuition as well as many consumable studio supplies and most materials that students will use throughout the class or workshop. Please see student material list for additional supplies.

Letterpress Printing 101: Introduction to Letterpress

This course is the perfect introduction to letterpress printing. Students will develop foundational skills by using a composing stick to hand set lines of types. From there, projects will introduce more technical considerations as well as creative approaches to printing. Students will learn to learn to lock-up type, set pressure, mix and modify ink and how to safely operate our machines. This class is great for students looking for the basic principles of letterpress printing and those who want additional experience with Vandercook and Platen presses.  This class is a prerequisite for Letterpress Printing 102.

Please note that class fees cover tuition as well as many consumable studio supplies and most materials that students will use throughout the class or workshop. Please see student material list for additional supplies.

Decorative Paper: Suminagashi, Paste Papers, & Paper Marbling

Sign up to learn a variety of techniques to make decorative papers from all parts of the world! Students in this course will spend two weeks learning each of method of decorating paper: suminagashi, paste papers, and paper marbling.

Paste papers are one of the earliest methods used to decorate paper. Using sponges, combs, brushes, and found objects, a mixture of paste and acrylic paint is surface painted on to paper. Suminagashi is a traditional form of paper marbling from Japan that creates lovely and unpredictable patterns. Paper Marbling is a more advanced design technique that has been used by paper artists since the 12^thcentury. Pigments are floated on a viscous water-based solution and carefully transferred to paper to produce mesmerizing patterning, similar to smooth marble.

Decorative papers are a wonderful craft that can be create wonderful pieces of fine art. They can be used as book covers, end papers, and as a base for handmade prints.

Please note that class fees cover tuition as well as many consumable studio supplies and most materials that students will use throughout the class or workshop. Please see student material list for additional supplies.