Having been teaching printmaking for 10 years, Scarlett Rebecca is an encyclopedia of knowledge when it comes to transferring pigment to paper! And now she is inviting you to come explore your choice of 3 different printmaking techniques with her, all from the comfort of your own home.
Exploring your creativity is an important activity and it’s open to us all, regardless of our experience. But attending an in-person course isn’t always possible to fit around our busy lives. These Printmaking at Home courses are flexible to fit around your schedule and mean that you can continue to print after the course has finished, without needing access to a specialist workshop.
During these courses you will work at your own pace, fitting your printing time around your day to day life. You will work through the processes demonstrated to you in the tutorial videos, and whether you are a complete beginner or experienced printmaker you will be able to adapt your prints to suit your style and level of experience.
Scarlett will show you how to set up a printing space in your home and how to work to professional standards, whether you’re working in your home studio or on your kitchen table.
Finding a meaningful, nurturing network of creative people to work alongside can sometimes be difficult, and being motivated to create at home can be even tougher. We need connection and we need accountability! And that is exactly what Scarlett can provide.
COURSE OUTLINE:
- Decide which techniques you want to try and sign up!
- Gather any additional materials you may need
- You will receive your very own printmaking materials pack in the post!
- In the week before the scheduled zoom class
- watch Scarlett’s superb online tutorial videos
- set up your print space and start your print experiments
- Meet for an intimate 3-hour zoom session to explore the techniques together, all the time guided and supported by Scarlett.
- Continue to explore the printmaking process, letting your creativity run wild! Share your prints, inspirations and feedback on the Print Club online forum with the international Printmaking at Home community of printmakers.
- Around two weeks later, meet with fellow students on zoom for a follow up group critique/feedback session led by Scarlett.
- Following on from this course you could join Scarlett or James on one of their online art club sessions.
CHOOSE WHICH OF THE THREE TECHNIQUES YOU WANT TO TRY:
(if you can’t decide on one then sign up for all three!)
1. Card Collagraph
Card Collagraph is perfect for you if you enjoy the bold marks and crisp lines of relief prints but you want to add some delicacy and tonality to your images.
For this course we will use mountboard as our matrix and we will exploit the layered nature of board to create tonal variation in our prints.
Card collagraph is a wonderfully hands-on haptic process which connects you to the surface you’re working on. We carve away our boards, scratch, peel and indent the surface to create a sculptural matrix. From an unassuming card matrix bold and impactful prints can be produced with tonal ranges and delicate line work.
Card collagraph does not require specialist tools, you only need a sharp blade and a vision!
Course date:
Sunday 12th September
Sign up for our morning session – 10am-1pm
1 hour critique session Tuesday 28th September (7-8pm)
2. Kitchen lithography
Kitchen lithography is a non-toxic variation of traditional stone lithography, utilitsing materials you can find in your kitchen. We will draw with chocolate and crayons and etch our drawing to the plate with cola.
The lithographic process translates the drawn mark incredibly faithfully and allows for a huge amount of subtlety in the mark making, so if you like drawing then this is the course for you. You can get immediate results which is perfect if you like to create spontaneous marks and quick-fire sketches.
The alluminium foil is a perfect drawing surface because it’s cheap. This means you can feel uninhibited when drawing on it because if it goes wrong you can just tear it off and start again.
Kitchen lithography was invented in 2011 by French artist Emilion.
Course dates:
Sunday 10th October
Sign up for our afternoon session – 3pm-6pm
1 hour critique session Tuesday 26th October (7-8pm)
3. Mokulito
Mokulito was developed in the 1970s as a non-toxic variation of lithography, combining the qualities of woodcut with the delicate and spontaneous mark making of lithography.
We will draw on to our prepared plywood surface using greasy drawing materials to produce tonal images. We will also employ some woodcut carving to bring light areas into our prints and further develop the image. The beautiful grain of the wood remains ever present to give a mid-tone to our prints.
Mokulito is a wonderful coming together of the relief and planographic printmaking families.
It is the perfect process if you love both drawing and carving, and you don’t want to choose between the two. You can have the best of both worlds combined in to one! You can combine fluid brush marks and fast sketches with the crisp lines of wood cut.
Course date:
Sunday 7th November
Sign up for our morning session 10am-1pm
1 hour critique session Tuesday 23rd November (7-8pm)
COURSE DETAILS
This fun online course includes:
- The delivery of your own printmaking pack, lovingly hand packed, assembled and posted to your door
- A detailed video tutorial to watch in the week before the zoom session which provides:
- An introduction to the printmaking process and it’s print family with reference to historical and contemporary artists’ work.
- Step by step instructions for the specific printmaking technique you’ll be exploring
- With detailed explanation of registration, plate making, press use & hand burnishing, paper handling and how develop your prints further.
- A prearranged 3 hour zoom workshop for you and your fellow students to practise what you have learnt, ask questions, and share your prints with each other, overseen and tutored by Scarlett
- Informal, relaxed & attentive guidance for every student on the zoom session.
- A follow up zoom group critique/show and tell session around two weeks after the zoom demo, led by Scarlett. A chance to share with your fellow students what you have created and get feedback from Scarlett and the group.
Suitable for?
Anyone 16+ and over, regardless of experience. Aimed for Beginner – Intermediate level.
What is included in the price?
- Printmaking starter pack including most of the materials you will need for the session (*For postage outside of the UK there is an additional charge that will need to be paid straight to Scarlett).
- Four tutorial videos on the specific printmaking process
- A 3-hour live printing zoom workshop
- A 1/1.5-hour critique/feedback session
- An invitation to join the Print Club online forum; a space to share your work, troubleshoot and feedback with other printmaking at home students.
- A discount code for additional printmaking supplies you may need from handprinted.co.uk
- A selection of downloads including printmaking glossary, a list of recommended suppliers and technical notes.
What is not included in the price?
-
- The printmaking packs contain most of the things needed for the course but you will need to source a few extra bits and bobs, most of which you will have around the house. These extras will cost between £3 and £30. The good news is that Scarlett has negotiated a discount code which you can use for handprinted.co.uk and will recommend which are best based on your budget!
(The specifics for each course are listed on the course booking pages above.)
- The printmaking packs contain most of the things needed for the course but you will need to source a few extra bits and bobs, most of which you will have around the house. These extras will cost between £3 and £30. The good news is that Scarlett has negotiated a discount code which you can use for handprinted.co.uk and will recommend which are best based on your budget!
This course is for you if:
- You want to explore your creativity but lack the confidence to do so on your own
- You want a bit of creative escapism without having to leave your home.
- You want to explore printmaking but don’t have access to facilities near you, or you want to build your printmaking confidence before visiting a print workshop.
- You want to connect with an international creative community and share the joy of safely creating alongside others from around the globe.
- You want to delve into a creative medium that can handle the wild thoughts of your imagination!
- You want to experiment in a medium that is accessible and cheap to pursue at home, at your own leisure – this could be your new life’s passion!
- You already know how to print but want to develop your skills and get out of your comfort zone.
Number of students
Each course is limited to just 8 students to ensure that each student gets enough of the tutor’s time
What should you make?
- Anything that inspires you really!
- Scarlett will provide tips and advice about how to tailor your images to work well for the specific printmaking techniques.
Beyond The Course
Scarlett will be running various different workshops like this throughout the year. You will be able to try at least three different printmaking techniques if you desire. You will also be able to join one of Scarlett’s monthly online studio sessions and group critique sessions so you can share further printmaking adventures with fellow creatives!
ABOUT THE TUTOR
Scarlett has been teaching printmaking for over 10 years. After a serendipitous shuffle of job roles at Brighton University Scarlett was introduced to lithography 5 years ago and fell in love immediately. She now has two stone lithographic presses and nearly 20 stones! Scarlett works between her studios in Brighton and North Wales, teaching printmaking and producing intricately patterned portraits in relief print and lithography.
Scarlett gets wonderful feedback from the artists who attend her courses. Here just one example:
I started Scarlett’s course with a bare minimum of experience in printmaking techniques, and ended with a firm grounding across a range of ways of working. Scarlett’s relaxed teaching style and extensive skills made for a rich and enjoyable experience, and the combination of videos demonstrating techniques and printing together as a small group over Zoom worked really well. I believe there was enough to challenge even students with prior experience, for example in considering how techniques might be combined. I think this course is amazing value for money and brings the possibility of engaging in printmaking safely at home without the need for expensive equipment. I can’t recommend it highly enough!
Debbie Brown
(Planographic Printmaking at Home – online course October 2020)