May 27 | Studio Access Training: Letterpress (2 Hours)

Studio Authorization is always required prior to attending your first Open Studio or becoming a Keyholder. Experience is required for all Studio Access Trainings.

Please take some time to read and ensure that you meet the minimum requirements stated below.

What Are Studio Access Trainings?

Studio Access Trainings ensure that those with prior experience from school or another print studio will be proficient and confident using the equipment in our studio.

What you can expect:

These sessions are NOT lessons, but specifically for makers who already have thorough experience with similar equipment. 

Minimum Requirements to Become Authorized:

• Have recent experience with the equipment you would like to use (within 2 years)
• Have thorough experience with the equipment you would like to use (8-week class or equivalent; Experience required varies based on process and equipment).
• Be comfortable working independently.
• Demonstrate safe and clean printmaking or art-making habits.
• Demonstrate respect to our staff and our equipment.

If you do not meet these requirements, please enroll in a class that includes authorization or schedule a series of private lessons

Studio Access Training: Letterpress

This 2-hour authorization will allow participants to be authorized to print on our Vandercook Press. Printers may need to book a second on-site session to be authorized for both types of presses.

Every letterpress authorization will ensure that printers are familiar with setting up the press, mixing inks, inking the press, adjusting pressure and registration, printing, and thorough cleaning of the press and all tools. There may not be time to practice printing both a polymer plate and movable type, but both methods can be reviewed as needed.

As with all our Studio Access Trainings, we will also cover equipment available to check out and press reservation policies.

May 30 | Multi-color Screenprinting: Jigs, Tabs, and Registration

Note this class skips June 20th and will conclude on June 27th

Color changes everything. This class is built for artists ready to take on the precision demands of multi-color printing — some experience is helpful, but not required.

From artwork separation to ink layering, students will work through the full multi-color workflow. Special focus is placed on registration — the make-or-break skill of multi-color printing. Students will get hands-on experience with jigs and registration tabs, learning how to choose the right setup for the job and achieve consistent alignment across every pass.

By the end of this class, students will walk away with a completed multi-color print and the technical foundation to print independently in Open Studio.

June 1 | Risography 101 (4 Hours)

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 gained traction (and notoriety) in small-press culture for its distinctive effects and efficiency—as well as for being rather finicky.

This 4-hour workshop will walk students through the fundamentals of risography for bookmaking and fine art printing. Students will learn techniques and best practices for reproducing imagery, giving consideration to ink density, drying time, paper choices, registration, and patience. 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. Everyone will leave with an individually designed two-layer print.

June 1 | Screenprinting Refresher & Authorization (4 Hours)

Note: Experience is required to take this refresher class.

This refresher & authorization workshop welcomes students with previous screenprinting experience who are feeling out-of-practice or fuzzy regarding the finer points of the process, or who have never printed at Spudnik before, and want familiarity with our facilities and offerings. Students should have already completed a one-day workshop or full class, although it need not have been at Spudnik. We also welcome printers that would like support working through a particularly complex project or reoccurring printing issue.

The class 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.

To help build printing confidence at Open Studio sessions, students are invited to return within the week 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.

June 3 | Riso Animation (6 Weeks)

Discover the unique world of Risograph printing and animation in this hands-on four-week course. Beginning with the fundamentals of the Risograph machine, you will progress through a complete animation workflow — learning not just how to print, but how to bring your prints to life.

Using Spectrolite, an intuitive software designed for Riso printing, you will create standalone prints, explore layering techniques, and develop a foundation for animation. From there, you will learn how to scan and composite your work in Photoshop, building toward a finished animated GIF and a short Riso animation to take home.

You will leave the course with prints, contact sheets, and a collection of digital material to continue experimenting with long after the final session. With the Risograph, practice and experimentation are at the heart of every unique result.

What to Bring

— USB drive
— Notebook

No experience is needed, simply a creative spirit and a readiness to experiment.

June 3 | Two Color Tees (2 Weeks)

In this two-week course, students learn the ins and outs of the t-shirt press — how to set it up, load and secure a garment, mix and set ink, and register two colors for a clean, layered print. Getting layers to line up correctly is one of those skills that makes a huge difference in the finished product, and this course breaks it down so the whole process feels approachable and repeatable.

Working directly on t-shirts, you’ll spend real time at the press getting comfortable with the equipment and the workflow. You’ll learn how ink behaves on fabric, how to mix a custom color, and how to get consistent results across multiple prints. Registration — the process of aligning your second color precisely to your first — gets dedicated attention so you leave with a clear understanding of how to nail it every time.

Students will leave with finished printed tees and full authorization to use the screenprinting studio independently, so you can keep coming back and making.

June 4 | Relief Animation (3 Weeks)

This course is an exploration of the synthesis between animation and relief printmaking. Rather than editioning, students will produce a sequence of unique prints that will function as individual frames within a larger animation. Participants will then use Photoshop to transform their printed sequences into looping gifs. Throughout the course, students will mine the reductive and additive processes inherent to relief printmaking for their cinematic potential. Students will also gain experience with various elements of the traditional animation process, such as storyboarding and animatics. 

Over the span of 3 sessions, participants will receive personalized guidance towards completing their own ambitious, animated relief projects. This class also includes a voucher for free access to open studio hours, giving students the opportunity to conclude their project independently should they need extra time, even after the course’s completion. 

No experience in either medium is required to enroll.

In addition to gaining authorization to print independently at Spudnik Press, students will have access to Open Studios to work on their projects.

June 8 | Intro to Screenprinting (4 Weeks)

Screenprinting is an art form known for its bold graphics and versatility. It is approachable, yet has many facets to explore and master. This foundational class introduces all the basic skills to get someone new to the process up and running, creating art on both paper and fabric.

A selection of projects will give students the opportunity to produce prints from hand drawings, digital designs, and photographic or found imagery. Students will become familiar with the full process — from selecting the right screen, to darkroom exposure, ink mixing, printing, and reclaiming screens. With support from an experienced printer, students will practice printing and, equally important, troubleshooting.

By the end of this class, students will know their way around the print shop and be authorized to print independently through Spudnik Press’s Open Studio program.

June 23 | Intro to letterpress (8 Weeks)

This course is the perfect introduction to letterpress printing. From its creation by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century until the 19th century, letterpress printing was the norm for printing text. Its use persisted in books and various applications until the late 20th century.

Letterpress printing evolved from simple platen presses, where paper was pressed onto an inked form, producing beautifully imprinted text and images. Over time, the flat platen was replaced by a roller in the flat-bed cylinder press, streamlining the process.

This course is the perfect introduction to letterpress printing, a centuries-old process that shaped the history of printed language. From its invention by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century through its continued use into the 20th century, letterpress has remained a powerful and tactile way to print text and images.

Over Eight weekly sessions, students will learn the fundamentals of letterpress printing, including hand-setting metal and wood type, understanding inks and paper, and safely operating platen presses. Instruction covers composing with a stick, adjusting letter and word spacing, building type forms, and printing with consistent impression. Students will also learn essential press skills such as locking up in a chase, basic make-ready, registering multiple layers, and proper press cleanup.

This hands-on class is ideal for creatives, designers, writers, and anyone interested in language as a visual and physical medium. No prior printmaking experience is required.